BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Data on radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of liver metastasis has not been uniform. The goal of this study was to determine medium-term success of CT-guided RFA of liver metastases from colorectal cancer.PATIENTS AND METHODS: 43 consecutive patients (27 men; aged 67+/-10 years) with a total of 87 liver metastases from colo-rectal cancer were included in this retrospective analysis. All patients underwent percutaneous RFA after first- or second-line chemotherapy. The mean follow-up period was 29.8 +/- 22.7 (4 - 85) months. Overall survival and local recurrence-free survival were determined using Kaplan-Meier curves. The effects of primary therapeutic success, number of lesions, maximum lesion size and sum of lesion diameters were assessed.RESULTS: In total, 83 lesions were treated during 56 interventions. Taking into account local recurrence and incomplete ablation 86.7 % of metastases were successfully ablated. The median survival was 46 months with estimated 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates of 89.0 %, 66.2 % and 41.8 %, respectively. The median interval to hepatic tumor progression was 13 months after RFA. Survival was related to primary treatment success (p = 0.0353), number of lesions (p = 0.0050) and sum of lesion diameters (p = 0.0199).CONCLUSION: CT-guided RFA is an effective treatment of liver metastases from colorectal cancer. These data support the use of RFA in patients considered ineligible for surgery.
Aged Aged, 80 and over