OncoTargets and Therapy (Oct 2018)

Radiofrequency Ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis of overall survival and recurrence-free survival

  • Casadei Gardini A,
  • Marisi G,
  • Canale M,
  • Foschi FG,
  • Donati G,
  • Ercolani G,
  • Valgiusti M,
  • Passardi A,
  • Frassineti GL,
  • Scarpi E

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 11
pp. 6555 – 6567

Abstract

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Andrea Casadei Gardini,1 Giorgia Marisi,2 Matteo Canale,2 Francesco Giuseppe Foschi,3 Gabriele Donati,4 Giorgio Ercolani,5,6 Martina Valgiusti,1 Alessandro Passardi,1 Giovanni Luca Frassineti,1 Emanuela Scarpi7 1Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Meldola, Italy; 2Biosciences Laboratory, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Meldola, Italy; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Degli Infermi Hospital, Faenza, Italy; 4Internal Medicine, Infermi Hospital, AUSL Romagna, Rimini, Italy; 5Department of General Surgery, Morgagni-Pierantoni Hospital, Forlì, Italy; 6Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; 7Unit of Biostatistics and Clinical Trials, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Meldola, Italy Background and aims: So far, no randomized trial or meta-analysis has been conducted on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) factors in patients treated with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) alone. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate prognostic factors of OS and RFS in patients treated with RFA.Methods: A primary analysis was planned to evaluate the clinical prognostic factor of OS. RFS was the secondary aim. Thirty-four studies published from 2003 to 2017 were analyzed. They included 11,216 hepatocellular carcinoma patients.Results: The results showed that Child–Pugh B vs Child–Pugh A (HR =2.32; 95% CI: 2.201–2.69; P<0.0001) and albumin–bilirubin score 1 vs 0 (HR =2.69; 95% CI: 2.10–3.44; P<0.0001) were predictive of poor OS. Tumor size as a continuous variable was not predictive of OS, although it was predictive of OS when we considered the size as a cutoff value (>2 cm vs <2 cm: HR =1.41; 95% CI: 1.23–1.61; P<0.0001; >3 cm vs <3 cm: HR =1.43; 95% CI: 1.17–1.74; P<0.0001) and in presence of >1 nodule (HR =1.59; 95% CI: 1.46–1.74; P<0.0001). Alpha-fetoprotein >20 ng/mL (HR =1.46; 95% CI: 1.25–1.70; P<0.0001) was the only predictive factor of poor prognosis.Conclusion: Our meta-analysis highlighted that the maximum benefit of RFA in terms of OS and RFS is reached in the presence of Child–Pugh A, albumin–bilirubin score 1, single-nodule tumor sized <2 cm, and alpha-fetoprotein <20 ng/mL. Keywords: radiofrequency, ALBI score, NLR, outcome, marker , immune-inflammation index, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-lymphocyte ratio, chil-pugh, alpha-fetoprotein

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