Clinical evaluation of cryosurgery in the treatment of primary liver cancer. Report of 60 cases.

Cryosurgery with liquid nitrogen was employed for the treatment of 60 patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) at the Liver Cancer Research Unit, Zhong Shan Hospital, Shanghai Medical University, the People's Republic of China, from November 1973 to August 1987. Of 60 patients, subclinical stage amounted to 35% (21/60), moderate stage 55% (33/60) and late stage 10% (6/60). There were 21 cases with small PLC (less than or equal to 5 cm). The postoperative course was uneventful in all of the 60 patients. These was no operative mortality, and there was no complications such as rupture of tumor, secondary bleeding, bile leakage, or abdominal infection. The 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 4-year, and 5-year survival rates were 51.7% (30/58), 33.9% (19/56), 20.8% (11/53), 15.6% (7/45), and 11.4% (5/44), respectively, for the whole series. Among the 21 patients with tumor nodules less than or equal to 5 cm in diameter, the 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 4-year, and 5-year survival rates were 76.2% (16/21), 61.9% (13/21), 50.0% (9/18), 41.2% (7/17), and 37.5% (6/16), respectively. These results indicate that hepatic cryosurgery is a promising, safe, and simple treatment for neoplastic disease of liver. Cryosurgery with liquid nitrogen can be considered the surgery of choice for nonresectable PLC in patients without jaundice, ascites, and noncompensated liver function, and the whole tumor mass can be involved in the frozen area.