Local Recurrence After Thermal Ablation Therapy of Malignant Hepatic Tumors.

Objective: Thermal ablation techniques including radio frequency ablation and microwave ablation are treatment modalities that have proven efficacy and reliability for the treatment of primary and metastatic hepatic tumors. One of the best measures of the technical success of thermal ablation is local recurrence. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of local recurrence after thermal ablation of hepatic malign tumors in our interventional radiology department. Materials and Methods: A retrospectively maintained database of 83 patients (208 lesions) who underwent thermal ablation from March 2010 to December 2019 for the treatment of malignant hepatic tumors was analyzed. All lesions were assessed regarding age, gender, prior treatment, tumor type, etiology, size, location, and approach of ablation. Imaging and demographic characteristics were compared between groups. Overall intrahepatic recurrence, local recurrence, and intrahepatic distant recurrence were evaluated. Results: The mean tumor size was 1.8 cm (range: 0.2-7 cm). The lesions were hepatocellular carcinoma in 21 (25%) and metastasis in 62 (75%) patients. These were colorectal liver metastasis (n=52, 63%), pancreatic liver metastasis (n=6, 7%), and other tumors (n=4, 4.8%). The mean follow-up was 32.5 months. The local and intrahepatic distant recurrence rates were 13.9% and 50.6%. The significant risk factors for local recurrence were tumor diameter >3 cm and the presence of intrahepatic distant recurrence. Other parameters had insignificant relationship to the local recurrence rate. Conclusion: After ablation, intrahepatic distant recurrence occurred more frequently than local recurrences, and those with intrahepatic distant recurrence had a higher local recurrence rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]