Radiofrequency ablation therapy combined with intrahepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy for liver metastasis of colorectal cancer

We performed radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy combined with intrahepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy for 7 patients with liver metastasis from colorectal cancer. Synchronous metastasis accounted for 5 cases and metachronous for 2 cases. Two cases were H1, 2 cases H2, and 3 cases H3. Following the resection of colorectal primary lesion, we performed RFA for liver metastasis, using a Cool-tip electrode purchased from Radionics (Burlington, MA, USA). The mean number of sessions per patient was 5.1 (1-10). Ablation time of each session was changed according to tumor size, as follows: less than 1 cm in diameter: 2 min, 2 cm: 5 min, 2.5 cm: 10 min. By using intra-operative catheterization, weekly intrahepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy was performed for liver metastasis. Excellent ablation was achieved in all cases by CT evaluation and no significant side-effect was observed. Average observation period was 15 months (maximal survival period was 31 months) and 6 patients are alive. RFA therapy combined with intrahepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy achieved excellent therapeutic effect, and maintained good quality of life in patients.     

A case of laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation for liver metastatic tumor from colorectal carcinoma

Hepatic resection is a first choice for resectable liver metastatic tumor from colorectal carcinoma. In the case of unresectable tumor or a refusal to operation, laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation (RFA) becomes an option to treat. We report a case of laparoscopic RFA for liver metastatic tumor from colorectal carcinoma. A 74-year-old woman had a laparoscopic transverse colectomy for transverse colon cancer with multiple liver metastases in February 2009. She received UFT/LV and liver metastases were reduced. After the second course, the patient desired to stop chemotherapy. But the liver metastases had grown again. We recommended a hepatic resection. Since she didn't want to have the operation, we performed RFA. After the RFA, a liver metastasis was detected twice. After tumors were located near other organs, we performed a laparoscopic RFA. At 9 months after undergoing last RFA, she had no recurrence in the liver. We thought laparoscopic RFA was safe and effective for the lesion, which was difficult to treat with percutaneous approach RFA.     

Radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic liver tumors: a comparative study

BACKGROUND: This study compared the effectiveness of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver metastases. METHODS: We compared the outcomes of 240 patients with HCC and 44 patients with liver metastases treated with RFA. Data were prospectively collected and retrospectively analyzed. Effects of different variables on recurrences were studied. RESULTS: A total of 406 tumor nodules were treated. The median size of the largest ablated tumor was 2.5 cm, and the median tumor number was 1. Complete tumor ablation was achieved in 91.2%. Local recurrence rate was 15.4% after a median follow-up of 24.5 months. There was no significant impact of tumor pathology on local recurrence. However, patients with liver metastasis had higher extrahepatic recurrence rate (P = 0.019) and shorter disease-free survival (P = 0.007). Patients with multiple tumors had higher local (P = 0.047) and extrahepatic (P = 0.019) recurrence rates than those with a solitary tumor. Tumor size had an impact on local recurrence rate only in patients with liver metastasis with a higher rate in those with tumor > 2.5 cm in diameter (P = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS: Tumor pathology does not appear to have a significant impact on local recurrence rates. RFA is effective in local tumor control for both HCC and liver metastasis.     

Radiofrequency ablation permits an effective treatment for colorectal liver metastasis.

BACKGROUND: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has become an important adjunct to modern liver surgery. However, scant knowledge on long-term outcome of RFA for colorectal liver metastasis is available, nowadays. METHODS: This is a prospective clinical study of patients with liver metastasis of colorectal cancer who were treated by RFA between April 1, 1998, and November 30, 2004. Forty-seven patients with 147 liver metastases were treated with RFA in a total of 70 interventions. A metastasis resection was not feasible in 80% of the interventions. All the patients were followed up at regular intervals with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and laboratory tests including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). RESULTS: No RFA-related mortality occurred. The median follow-up time after the diagnosis of liver metastasis was 33 months. The RFA-related morbidity was 7%. After the RFA, the expected median overall survival rate is, to date, 39 months. Overall survival rates at 1, 2 and 3 years were 88%, 80% and 57%, respectively. Local recurrence rates reached 8.8% overall and 1.6% for metastasis smaller than 3cm in diameter. No local recurrence occurred for metastasis smaller than 3cm in diameter if treated with the newest RFA device. CONCLUSIONS: Excellent local tumour control was achieved with radiofrequency ablation of small liver metastasis. The expected overall survival rate of patients with RFA for unresectable or non-resected colorectal liver metastasis improved in comparison with the survival rate reported following the natural course (best supportive care) or chemotherapy. The low local recurrence rate of metastases of less than 3cm challenges the results obtained by the more invasive treatment of conventional liver surgery.     

Radio-frequency ablation therapy for metastatic liver tumors from colorectal carcinoma

Radio-frequency ablation therapy (RFA) as a treatment for metastatic liver tumors from colorectal carcinoma was examined. METHODS: Ten patients with a total of 30 liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma were treated using a Cool-tip RF system from March 2003 to December 2004. RESULTS: Patients had a mean age of 69.8 years and the mean diameter of the metastatic lesions was 29.5 mm (range, 5-82). Two patients had received RFA therapy 2 times, and another 2 patients had received 3 times. Critical complications were not seen, though 5 therapies were performed using CT-guided trans-pulmonary puncture. The rate of partial recurrence was 23.1% and the average observation period was 14.8 months. The partial recurrence had occurred within the mean period of 6.2 months. Although after multimodal therapy was given, it is suggested that repeated RFA for the liver metastasis would improve survival rates. CONCLUSION: RFA is a safe and effective treatment for metastatic liver tumors from colorectal carcinoma as multimodal therapy.     

Hepatic arterial injection therapy (HAI) for metastatic liver tumor from gastric cancer

The results and problems of hepatic artery infusion therapy (HAI) for gastric carcinoma with synchronous liver metastasis were evaluated. The response rate of HAI with CDDP and 5-FU for metastatic liver tumor was 55% (1 CR + 5 PR/11). The median survival time for responders was 16.5 months, which was statistically longer than that of non-responders at only 5.5 months. Histologically, most responder cases were with AFP producing tumors and NSE positive tumors without distant lymph node involvement. Non-responder cases developed marked distant lymph node involvement besides the liver metastasis. Most of responder patients died of lymph node recurrence or distant metastasis other than liver tumor. It may be concluded that additional therapy to HAI is needed to improve the prognosis of gastric cancer patients with multiple liver metastases.     

肝癌射频治疗后的DSA征象分析

背景与目的:肝射频消融术(RFA)是肝癌综合治疗中的一项重要手段,CT常用于评估其治疗效果和肿瘤复发,但CT很难发现＜1 cm的复发灶,因此必要时行血管造影术(DSA)能发现隐匿的复发灶,是CT有益的补充手段.为此,本文研究肝癌RFA后的DSA征象,以提供影像学参考.方法:2007年1月至2008年4月对17例经临床、影像学及肝穿刺活检确诊为肝癌或转移性肝癌患者行RFA后进行DSA造影.结果:DSA显示射频治疗的肿瘤区多为圆形或类圆形无染色的低密度区;边缘区可见以下几种征象:局部染色、肝动脉门静脉瘘、边缘区出血、边缘复发和无异常造影征象.肝内异位复发灶造影表现同其原发肿瘤常见造影表现.本组9例造影发现原位边缘复发和(或)肝内异位复发灶.结论:发现和鉴别射频治疗区域的边缘征象是判断局部复发的关键.DSA在榆出＜1 cm的边缘结节复发和肝内复发灶方面优于CT.     

A phase II study of radiofrequency ablation of unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer with hepatic arterial infusion pump chemotherapy

BACKGROUND: Adjuvant hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) chemotherapy has been demonstrated to improve disease-free survival for colorectal cancer liver metastases. It is unclear if this improvement can be extrapolated to unresectable liver metastases that undergo RFA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the combination of RFA and HAI chemotherapy for unresectable liver metastases. METHODS: Phase II study was conducted from November 2000 to July 2003 evaluating the use of complete extirpation by RFA, or resection/ablation with adjuvant HAI consisting of FUDR for 6 months. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients had successful resection and/or RFA with HAI pump, which included treatment for 100 liver metastases (22 resected, 78 ablated; mean 4.8 tumors/patient). Four of 21 patients completed the full 6-month course of HAI. Six of these patients had 12 adverse events related to HAIP, most commonly elevated liver enzymes. After a median follow-up of 24 months, the median liver specific disease-free and overall survival rates for the entire group were 17 and 30 months, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Given the complications and toxicity associated with HAI pump chemotherapy, adjuvant HAI chemotherapy after RFA of liver metastases may not be warranted as a first line treatment option.     

Two cases of pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer successfully treated by radiofrequency ablation therapy

BACKGROUND: To date, several studies have evaluated an efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for liver tumor. However, there are few reports on RFA for metastatic pulmonary tumor. We experienced two patients whose pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer were treated with RFA. Case 1: A 70-year-old man who had undergone surgery for rectal cancer was followed up in our out-patient clinic. Eleven months after the surgery, a pulmonary metastasis 10 mm in diameter at the left S10 segment was found. Systemic chemotherapy started. However, the chemotherapy had to be stopped due to grade 3 neutropenia. So, 17 months after the surgery, RFA was performed for the pulmonary metastasis without any complications. Now, he remains in good condition without any evidence of pulmonary recurrence for 20 months after the RFA. Case 2: A 65-year-old man who had undergone sigmoidectomy for sigmoid colon cancer was followed up in our out-patient clinic. Ten months after the surgery, three pulmonary metastases were found. Systemic chemotherapy started. However, because of adverse events, the chemotherapy had to be stopped. So, 15 months after the surgery, RFA was performed for the pulmonary metastases. Slight pneumothorax, which was observed after RFA, was conservatively treated. Now, he remains in good condition without any evidence of pulmonary recurrence for 3 months after the RFA. CONCLUSION: RFA could be performed safely. Although a long-term prognosis after RFA remains unclear, it may be an effective and minimally invasive technique for the treatment of pulmonary metastasis.     

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in colorectal cancer with hepatic metastases

We considered the appropriateness of RFA, which was performed in three cases of colorectal cancer with hepatic metastases accompanied by liver cirrhosis. Case 1 involved a patient with sigmoid colon cancer ss, n1 (+) with severe hepatic dysfunction and synchronous hepatic metastases (S5, S6, S8) in which RFA was performed. After 1 year and 6 months, recurrence (S3, S4) was detected in the residual liver, and the patient is currently undergoing the IFL (CPT-11/5-FU/Leucovorin) treatment. In case 2, following a partial hepatic resection, RFA was performed for cecal cancer ss, n2(+) with synchronous hepatic metastases (S5, S6, S8). After 11 months, recurrence (S5, S6, S7) occurred in residual liver and again RFA was performed following a partial hepatic resection. Lung metastases have occurred and currently IFL (CPT-11/5-FU/Leucovorin) and WHF treatments are underway. In case 3, 4 years and 8 months after cancer of the descending colon ss, n1 (+), RFA was performed on asynchronous hepatic metastases (S5, S7, S8). The patient died of peritonitis carcinomatosa one year after RFA. In all three cases, metastases were identified by dynamic CT as low density masses with no blood flow. Necrosis in all three metastases and local control had been achieved. There were no severe complications. Under the current conditions, local coagulation methods including RFA are appropriate in those cases in which resection are not possible such as multiple metastases with severe hepatic dysfunction, etc.     

Case report--efficacy of short-term intraarterial 5-fluorouracil for liver metastasis from colorectal cancer

Hepatectomy has the highest cure rate among the various methods for treating liver metastasis from colorectal cancer. We previously reported that continuous hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) of 5-FU is effective for improving the prognosis of patients with liver metastasis. In this study, we examined the efficacy of short-term continuous HAI of 5-FU for treating liver metastasis from colorectal cancer. A 57-year-old woman with a solitary liver metastasis from rectal cancer was treated by continuous HAI of 5-FU (1,000 mg/day) for 6 days. Her elevated serum CEA level (20.7 ng/ml) then returned to normal. Computed tomography revealed a decrease of 55.6% in the size of the liver tumor. Partial segmentectomy (S7) was subsequently performed. Histological examination of the resected tumor showed marked degeneration, necrosis, fibrosis, and calcification with viable moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma cells. These results suggest that preoperative HAI of 5-FU is safe and worth trying in patients with liver metastasis from colorectal cancer.     

单次经皮射频消融治疗小肝癌的预后及复发危险因素分析

背景与目的:射频消融( radiofrequency ablation, RFA)治疗作为肝癌局部治疗的新技术,近年得到了广泛的应用.本研究分析肝癌 RFA治疗的疗效和复发相关因素,并探索 RFA治疗的适应证.方法:采用回顾性队列研究方法,分析 2001年 1月至 2003年 12月期间, 94例在中山医院肝癌研究所行 RFA治疗的原发性小肝癌患者的 102个病灶,随访期至 2004年 3月.采用 SPSS 11.5统计软件对数据进行处理.结果: 94例患者的中位随访期为 16个月, RFA治疗后的 1年累积生存率为 85.5%, 2年累积生存率为 75.6%; 1年累积无瘤生存率为 31.3%, 2年累积无瘤生存率为 10.4%.共有 62例患者( 66.0%)复发.单因素分析显示复发与下列 3个因素有关:肿瘤近血管 (P< 0.01)、位于肝包膜下 (P< 0.05)、直径 >3 cm (P< 0.05);而与性别、 Child分级、 AFP值、是否联合瘤内无水乙醇注射治疗无关. Cox多因素分析显示:肿瘤近血管 (P=0.000, 95%可信区间为 2.102～ 7.899)、位于肝包膜下 (P=0.001, 95%可信区间为 1.672～ 6.289)是 RFA治疗后复发的独立危险因素.较严重并发症的发生率为 2.1% (2/94,胆道出血 1例,膈下积液 1例 ).未发生与手术相关的死亡.结论: RFA是一种安全的肝癌治疗方法.直径≤ 3 cm、不近肝内血管、非包膜下肿块是肝肿瘤 RFA治疗的适应证.     

结直肠癌肺转移射频消融治疗的进展

结直肠癌肺转移在临床上较为常见。射频消融技术在肺部恶性肿瘤治疗中已经得到应用，且对结直肠癌肺转移显示出良好的应用前景，具有远期生存率提高、安全性好、可重复操作以及并发症少等优点。本文从结直肠癌肺转移的治疗现状出发，对射频消融在结直肠癌肺转移中的研究情况，包括基础研究、射频治疗方法、预后因素、并发症、影像学技术等多个方面作一综述。     

Role of B-mode ultrasound screening in detection of local tumor recurrence in the first year after radiofrequency ablation in the liver

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound is known to be useful in imaging radiofrequency ablation (RFA) lesions intra- and postoperatively. The presented study intends to prove the value of ultrasound examination as a means of screening RFA-treated patients for local tumor recurrence. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During a period of 47 months, 91 RFA treatments were performed in 61 patients in a single institution. Indications for RFA were hepatocellular carcinoma (74%), colorectal metastases (18%), recurrent cholangiocellular carcinoma (5%) and one neuroendocrine tumor metastasis as well as one metastasis of pancreatic cancer (1.5% each). RFA was only considered in non-resectable liver cancer. All applications were conducted under sonographic guidance following preoperative evaluation. Postoperative screening included sonographic examinations at intervals of 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively, and further annual follow-up examinations. Mean follow-up period was 11.8 months. RESULTS: Within the first 12 months after treatment, the lesions become more and more inhomogenous with mixed echogeneity. Occasionally, this evolves as a misleading finding, mimicking early tumor recurrence. To clarify suspicious cases (31%), magnetic resonance imaging (20%) or computed tomography (10%) was engaged. Ultrasound led to the detection of local tumor recurrence in 78% of recurrent HCC (13 patients), but only in 67% of metastatic diseases (3 patients). Overall local recurrence rate was 18%. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound screening as a follow-up of primary hepatic malignancies is, due to its sensitivity, capable of detecting early local recurrence despite its low specifity. Appropriate application of particular criteria of local recurrence allows B-mode ultrasound to play a major role in screening RFA-treated patients.     

Chemotherapy for liver metastasis of colorectal cancer

In colorectal cancer, liver metastasis is the most common and most important prognostic factor. Although surgical resection is the first choice of treatment for liver metastasis of colorectal cancer, there are many cases we cannot choose the surgical treatment. The chemotherapy is very important in such cases. We examined 18 cases of unresectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer which were adapted a hepatic arterial infusion of 5-FU (HAI) with a weekly high-dose infusion method (WHF) as the first-line treatment, and then systemic chemotherapy of CPT-11 in combination with 5-FU as the second-line treatment. The response rate of this treatment is 72% (13/18) and the 1-, 2-, 3-year survival rates were 100% (16/16), 83% (10/12), and 50% (5/10), respectively. The combination chemotherapy of HAI with systemic chemotherapy using CPT-11 seemed to be an effective treatment method.     

Is it necessary to carry out hepatic resection and pulmonary resection to obtain a cure for liver and lung metastases from colorectal cancer ?

If hepatic or pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer are resectable, we perform the operation, and the 5-year survival rate is 40-50%. Median survival time is over 20 months recently for systemic chemotherapy. However, surgical treatment is the only way to obtain a cure. RFA has the advantage of being minimally invasive. But the local recurrence rate is slightly high. It is important to detect a local recurrence early and perform repeated RFA. Repeated RFA improve the prognosis and get the same overall survival rate of liver resection. If both the hepatic and pulmonary metastases are resectable, we perform both resections, with a good surgical outcome. If we cannot perform a second metastasectomy after first metastasectomy, the prognosis is very poor compared to the prognosis for liver metastasis only or lung metastasis only. It is necessary to add many cases to decide the surgical indication for such cases of both liver and lung metastases.     

Prudent application of radiofrequency ablation in resectable colorectal liver metastasis.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for liver metastasis of colorectal (H-CRC) origin is a well-documented technique in surgically unresectable disease. Overall recurrence figures appear inferior to resection but are based on a selection of patients with unresectable disease, often due to multiple localisations of extensive disease. Lesion based recurrence is probably more appropriate to predict results of RFA in surgically resectable H-CRC and figures may be good enough to consider RFA an alternative treatment in high risk patients.     

Radiofrequency ablation of liver metastasis from breast cancer

As the hepatic metastasis from breast cancer has a tendency to have an extrahepatic lesion, systemic therapy therefore becomes acclimatization. However, local therapy is regarded as one of the choices if there is no extrahepatic lesion. We present three cases of liver metastasis from the breast treated by radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Case 1: A 65-year-old woman was treated by left mastectomy in 1997. Radiation exposure was performed for lung metastasis, and a weekly paclitaxel therapy was administered in 2001. We performed RFA percutaneously for liver metastasis of 2.8 cm in 2002. The aggravation spread to the lung lesion and she died after RFA within one year. The liver metastasis finally enlarged to 4 cm in size. Case 2: A 36-year-old woman was treated by left mastectomy (Stage IIIa), and was followed by chemotherapy in 2000. We performed RFA for metastasis of 2 cm of liver (S7) percutaneously in 2001, and didn't recognize a recurrence to date for 3 years and 8 months. Case 3: A 43-year-old woman was treated by left mastectomy (Stage IIIa), and followed by chemotherapy in 2003. We performed RFA for a liver metastasis of 3.5 x 4 cm under laparotomy in 2004. She has been disease free for 15 months.     

Radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma and liver metastases

We evaluated the efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy for 29 patients with 36 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) nodules and 16 patients with 38 metastatic hepatic nodules. The mean tumor size was 26.4 mm. The primary lesions of patients with metastatic liver tumors were 9 colon cancer, 2 rectal cancer, 2 breast cancer, 2 gastric cancer, and 1 esophageal cancer. All nodules were treated using a Cool-tip RFA system. US-guided RFA was performed for 44 nodules, CT-guided RFA for 24 nodules, and intra-operative US-guided RFA for 6 nodules. In a mean observation period of 13.5 months, the mean complete ablation rate and the mean distant recurrence rate were 83.3% and 30.6% for HCC and 65.8% and 31.6% for metastatic nodules, respectively. The mean complete ablation rate of HCC was significantly higher than that of metastatic nodules (p < 0.05). The mean complete ablation rates of both HCC and metastatic hepatic nodules 3 cm or smaller in diameter were significantly higher than those of both tumors larger than 3 cm in diameter (p < 0.05). The mean distant recurrence rate of HCC in patients who have multiple nodules was 62.5% and it was significantly higher than that in patients who have a single nodule (28.6%) (p < 0.05). The mean complete ablation rate of metastatic nodules by intra-operative US guided RFA was 100% and it was statistically higher than that by other image guided RFA (p < 0.05).     

Results of liver resection in combination with radiofrequency ablation for hepatic malignancies

Introduction

Liver tumors should be surgically treated whenever possible. In the case of bilobar disease or coexisting liver cirrhosis, surgical options are limited. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has been successfully used for irresectable liver tumors. The combination of hepatic resection and RFA extends the feasibility of open surgical procedures in patients with liver metastases and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Patients and methods

RFA was performed with two different monopolar devices using ultrasound guidance. Intraoperative use of RFA for the treatment of liver metastases or HCC was limited to otherwise irresectable tumors during open surgical procedures including hepatic resections. Irresectability was considered if bilobar disease was treated, the functional hepatic reserve was impaired or appraised marginal for allowing further resection.

Results

Ten patients with both liver metastases and HCC, and two patients with cholangiocellular carcinoma were treated. Complete initial tumor clearance was achieved in all patients. Two patients of the metastases group and five patients of the HCC group suffered from local recurrence after a median of 12 months (1–26) (local recurrence rate 32%). Five patients of the metastases group and six patients of the HCC group developed recurrent tumors in different areas of the ablation site after a median time of 4 months (2–18) (distant intrahepatic recurrence in 55%). Survival at 31 months was 36%.

Conclusion

RFA extends the scope of surgery in some candidates with intraoperatively found irresectability.