Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of radiofrequency ablation(RFA)for liver metastases from colorectal cancer after chemotherapy.
Patients: From January 2006 to June 2012, 27 tumors in 17 patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer were treated using RFA after systemic chemotherapy.
Results: The median tumor diameter after chemotherapy was 12(range: 3-35)mm, and the mean number of tumors was 1.6(range: 1-4).The median time without local recurrence was 21.3(range: 2.2-61.9)months, and the median overall survival time was 38.0(range: 5.9-66.3)months. One patient had a complication(liver abscess).Of the 27 tumors, 9 were larger than 20 mm in diameter, and 4 of these 9 tumors showed local recurrence after RFA. In tumors smaller than 20 mm in diameter, only 1 showed local recurrence. The local recurrence rate was significantly higher for tumors larger than 20 mm than for tumors smaller than 20 mm(44.4% vs 5.6%,p=0.030).
Conclusion: RFA was an effective and safe method for treating liver metastases from colorectal cancer, especially for tumors smaller than 20 mm and in cases of less than 3 tumors after systemic chemotherapy.