Background: Percutaneous ethanol injection and hepatic resection are the most widely used curative therapeutic options for patients with compensated liver disease and small hepatocellular carcinoma.
Aim: To compare percutaneous ethanol injection and hepatic resection in a selected group of consecutive French patients with a single hepatocellular carcinoma, smaller than or equal to 50 mm, in terms of survival, recurrence rate of malignancy and direct costs.
Methods: The analysis of two contemporary cohorts of Child-Pugh A or B patients with a single hepatocellular carcinoma of < or = 50 mm treated by percutaneous ethanol injection (n=55) or hepatic resection (n=50).
Results: Long-term survival was not significantly different between the two groups when the size of hepatocellular carcinoma was less than 30 mm. However, the survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma larger than 30 mm was higher after hepatic resection than after percutaneous ethanol injection (P=0.044). The cumulative direct costs were significantly higher in patients treated by hepatic resection than in those treated by percutaneous ethanol injection regardless of the tumour size. The calculated costs per month of survival in patients treated with percutaneous ethanol injection and hepatic resection were 999 vs. 3865 euros, respectively (P < 0.001).
Conclusions: Percutaneous ethanol injection is more cost effective than hepatic resection in patients with a single hepatocellular carcinoma smaller than 30 mm. However, in patients with a larger tumour, long-term survival is higher after hepatic resection.