当科におけるラジオ波焼灼療法を用いた肝腫瘍治療 : preliminary report

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has recently been used to treat liver tumors. RFA is a safe and effective treatment of liver tumors and requires fewer treatment sessions. Between June 2000 and April 2003, hepatocellular carcinoma (77 patients with 106 lesions) and metastatic liver tumors (21 patients with 30 lesions) and cholangiocellular carcinoma (1 patient with 1 lesion) were treated with RFA. The liver tumors were treated percutaneously or during surgery under ultrasound guidance using a LeVeen needle (55 lesions) and cool tip RF needle (82 lesions).
To evaluate the response, contrast-enhanced CT scans or MRI were obtained.
Most patients experienced moderate pain during RFA procedure, especially when the tumor was superficially located.
Complete necrosis was achieved in all HCCs with RFA.This result was obtained with an average of 1.12 sessions per HCC. With a median follow-up of 15 months, HCCs have recurred in 6 of 90 treated lesions (6.7%), and metastatic liver tumors have recurred in 2 of 17 treated lesions (11.8%).
We are initiating a combining RFA of hepatic malignancies with regional or systemic chemotherapy will reduce hepatic and extrahepatic recurrence rates and enhance long-term survival rates. We believe that RFA will be effective treatment to achieve in patients with unresectable meastatic liver tumors.

四国医学雑誌 : http://www.tokushima-u.ac.jp/med/research/shikoku_acta_medica.html