| Literature DB >> 31918433 |
Shibin Du1, Jian-Zhi Yang2, Jing Chen3, Wei-Gang Zhou2, Yan-Yan Sun1.
Abstract
Both microwave (MW) ablation and radiofrequency (RF) ablation are widely used for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatments in clinic. However, it is still unclear if ablative methods could influence the recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) of HCC patients. Therefore, we carried out this multi-center retrospective cohort study to investigate the differences of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) between MW ablation and RF ablation by survival analysis. From January 2014 to December 2016, patients who received thermal ablation surgery for HCC treatment were screened. Finally, 452 patients met the eligibility criteria and finished the follow-up. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were used to identify independent predictive factors of the RFS and OS. Also, propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance the bias between two groups. Finally, we found that before the PSM, the univariable and multivariable regression analyses revealed that there were no significant differences on the RFS between two groups. Same results were obtained for the OS. After PSM, 115 pairs of patients were created, and both the univariable and multivariable regression analyses suggested that there were still no significant differences on the RFS between two groups. Same results were obtained for the OS. In conclusion, our present study showed that there were no significant differences between MW ablation and RF ablation for HCC patients on the RFS or OS.Entities:
Mesh:
Year: 2020 PMID: 31918433 PMCID: PMC6952252 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227242
Source DB: PubMed Journal: PLoS One ISSN: 1932-6203 Impact factor: 3.240
Study eligibility criteria.
| Inclusion criteria |
Comparisons of patients’ characteristics and other variables between MW ablation group and RF ablation group in the entire cohort.
| Variables | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MW Group | RF Group | MW Group | RF Group | |||
| PS score | 0.29 (0.22) | 0.43 (0.21) | 0.000 | 0.46 (0.21) | 0.48 (0.21) | 0.641 |
| Sex | ||||||
| male | 173 (79.4%) | 192 (82.1%) | 0.468 | 92 (80.0%) | 88 (76.5%) | 0.525 |
| female | 45 (20.6%) | 42 (17.9%) | 23 (20.0%) | 27 (23.5%) | ||
| Age | 56.4±10.3 | 57.3±9.3 | 0.323 | 56.3±10.0 | 57.5±9.4 | 0.315 |
| ≤60 | 137 (62.8%) | 143 (61.1%) | 0.705 | 74 (64.3%) | 69 (60.0%) | 0.499 |
| >60 | 81 (37.2%) | 91 (38.9%) | 41 (35.7%) | 46 (40.0%) | ||
| ASA score | ||||||
| Ⅱ | 169 (77.5%) | 195 (83.3%) | 0.119 | 88 (76.5%) | 87 (75.7%) | 0.878 |
| Ⅲ | 49 (22.5%) | 39 (16.7%) | 27 (23.5%) | 28 (24.3%) | ||
| Hypertension (Yes/No) | 41/177 | 68/166 | 0.011 | 26/89 | 37/78 | 0.105 |
| Diabetes (Yes/No) | 31/187 | 31/203 | 0.198 | 17/98 | 19/96 | 0.718 |
| Cardiopathy | 5/213 | 14/220 | 0.051 | 2/113 | 7/108 | 0.171 |
| Tumor number | ||||||
| 1 | 177 (81.2%) | 202 (86.3%) | 0.333 | 96 (83.5%) | 95 (82.6%) | 0.983 |
| 2 | 37 (17.0%) | 29 (12.4%) | 17 (14.8%) | 18 (15.7%) | ||
| 3 | 4 (1.8%) | 3 (1.3%) | 2 (1.7%) | 2 (1.7) | ||
| Cirrhosis (Yes/No) | 176/42 | 185/49 | 0.657 | 85/30 | 87/28 | 0.763 |
| HBV/HCV | 190/28 | 213/32 | 0.945 | 98/17 | 97/18 | 0.855 |
| Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy | ||||||
| (Yes/No) | 28/190 | 90/144 | 0.000 | 19/96 | 26/89 | 0.247 |
| Child-Pugh stage | ||||||
| A | 200 (91.7%) | 216 (92.3%) | 0.825 | 107 (93.0%) | 105 (91.3%) | 0.625 |
| B | 18 (8.3%) | 18 (7.7%) | 8 (7.0%) | 10 (8.7%) | ||
| Tumor size | 2.9±1.2 | 2.4±1.0 | 0.000 | 2.4±1.1 | 2.6±1.1 | 0.465 |
| <3cm | 110 (50.5%) | 166 (70.9%) | 0.000 | 80 (69.6%) | 74 (64.3%) | 0.400 |
| ≥3cm | 108 (49.5%) | 68 (29.1%) | 35 (30.4%) | 41 (35.7%) | ||
| Anesthetic methods | ||||||
| General anesthesia | 56 (25.7%) | 155 (66.2%) | 0.000 | 31 (27.0%) | 40 (34.8%) | 0.201 |
| Local anesthesia | 162 (74.3%) | 79 (33.8%) | 84 (73.0%) | 75 (65.2%) | ||
| AFP | ||||||
| <400ng/ml | 179 (82.1%) | 201 (85.9%) | 0.272 | 101 (87.8%) | 98 (85.2%) | 0.564 |
| ≥400ng/ml | 39 (17.9%) | 33 (14.1%) | 14 (12.2%) | 17 (14.8%) | ||
| TBIL | ||||||
| <34mmol/L | 201 (92.2%) | 211 (90.2%) | 0.447 | 106 (92.2%) | 103 (89.6%) | 0.494 |
| ≥34mmol/L | 17 (7.8%) | 23 (9.8%) | 9 (7.8%) | 12 (10.4%) | ||
| ALB | ||||||
| ≤35g/L | 32 (14.7%) | 36 (15.4%) | 0.834 | 11 (9.6%) | 14 (12.2%) | 0.527 |
| >35g/L | 186 (85.3%) | 198 (84.6%) | 104 (90.4%) | 101 (87.8%) | ||
| ALT | ||||||
| <40U/L | 128 (58.7%) | 144 (61.5%) | 0.540 | 72 (62.6%) | 63 (54.8%) | 0.230 |
| ≥40U/L | 90 (41.3%) | 90 (38.5%) | 43 (37.4%) | 52 (45.2%) | ||
| AST | ||||||
| <40U/L | 134 (61.5%) | 133 (56.8%) | 0.317 | 75 (65.2%) | 65 (50.4%) | 0.177 |
| ≥40U/L | 84 (38.5%) | 101 (43.2%) | 40 (34.8%) | 50 (49.6%) | ||
| Inpatient days | ||||||
| ≤5 days | 213 (97.7%) | 222 (94.9%) | 0.113 | 113 (98.3%) | 107 (93.0%) | 0.102 |
| >5 days | 5 (2.3%) | 12 (5.1%) | 2 (1.7%) | 8 (7.0%) | ||
*ASA, American Society of Anesthesiologists; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; TBIL, total bilirubin; ALB, serum albumin; ALT, Alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; PSM, propensity score matching.
** Cardiopathy illnesses include coronary heart disease, heart failure (NYHA Ⅰ-Ⅱ), arrhythmia, myocardiopathy and valvulopathy.
*** Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy includes transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and radioactive seed implantation. Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy is defined as patients received TACE or radioactive seed implantation during the hospital admission for first treatment.
#Inpatient days is defined as the period from operation finished to hospital discharge.
Data of the complete response, recurrence, repeat ablations, postoperative complications and Edmandson grade.
| MW Group | RF Group | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete response | |||
| Yes | 193 (88.5%) | 200 (85.5%) | 0.334 |
| No | 25 (11.5%) | 34 (14.5%) | |
| Recurrence | |||
| Local | 106 (89.8%) | 120 (89.5%) | 0.942 |
| Distant | 12 (10.2%) | 14 (10.5%) | |
| Repeat ablations (Yes/No) | 91/27 | 111/23 | 0.256 |
| Postoperative complications | 0.618 | ||
| Fever | 7 | 10 | |
| Seroperitoneum | 1 | 2 | |
| Pain | 13 | 13 | |
| Skin burn | 3 | 1 | |
| Edmandson grade | 0.214 | ||
| Ⅰ | 28 | 32 | |
| Ⅱ | 122 | 147 | |
| Ⅲ | 65 | 50 | |
| Ⅳ | 3 | 5 |
Results of univariable Cox regression model analysis on RFS and OS.
| Univariable Cox regression | HR (95% CI)* | |
|---|---|---|
| ASA score | 0.619 (0.463–0.826) | 0.001 |
| Hypertension | 0.704 (0.534–0.927) | 0.013 |
| Tumor number | 0.504 (0.389–0.652) | 0.000 |
| Cirrhosis | 0.680 (0.486–0.950) | 0.024 |
| Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy | 0.563 (0.430–0.736) | 0.000 |
| AFP | 0.716 (0.519–0.989) | 0.043 |
| Tumor size | 0.532 (0.414–0.682) | 0.000 |
| Anesthesia methods | 0.640 (0.498–0.822) | 0.000 |
| Ablation methods | 1.241 (0.967–1.593) | 0.089 |
| Age | 0.617 (0.396–0.959) | 0.032 |
| ALB | 0.465 (0.282–0.766) | 0.003 |
| Child-Pugh stage | 0.449 (0.237–0.850) | 0.014 |
| Tumor size | 0.445 (0.285–0.693) | 0.000 |
| Anesthesia methods | 0.632 (0.402–0.993) | 0.046 |
| Ablation methods | 0.723 (0.459–1.139) | 0.160 |
*RFS, recurrence-free survival; OS, overall survival; HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval; ASA, American Society of Anesthesiologists; AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; ALB, serum albumin.
Multivariable Cox regression model analysis of RFS and OS.
| Independent predictive factor | HR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| ASA score | 0.722 (0.531–0.982) | 0.038 |
| Tumor size | 0.653 (0.491–0.870) | 0.004 |
| Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy | 0.694 (0.514–0.937) | 0.017 |
| Hypertension | 0.743 (0.555–0.996) | 0.047 |
| AFP | 0.720 (0.519–1.000) | 0.050 |
| Tumor number | 0.611 (0.464–0.809) | 0.000 |
| Ablation methods | 0.872 (0.638–1.192) | 0.390 |
| Age | 0.603 (0.386–0.943) | 0.026 |
| Tumor size | 0.526 (0.328–0.841) | 0.007 |
| Ablation methods | 0.672 (0.400–1.129) | 0.133 |
Results of univariable Cox regression model analysis on RFS and OS after PSM.
| Univariable Cox regression | HR (95%CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| ASA | 0.578 (0.390–0.857) | 0.006 |
| Hypertension | 0.651 (0.441–0.960) | 0.030 |
| Diabetes | 0.518 (0.332–0.808) | 0.004 |
| Tumor number | 0.403 (0.265–0.612) | 0.000 |
| Cirrhosis | 0.591 (0.368–0.948) | 0.029 |
| Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy | 0.641 (0.415–0.989) | 0.045 |
| AFP | 0.520 (0.324–0.835) | 0.007 |
| Tumor size | 0.446 (0.307–0.649) | 0.000 |
| Anesthesia method | 0.617 (0.420–0.907) | 0.014 |
| Ablation method | 0.769 (0.532–1.111) | 0.162 |
| Age | 0.407 (0.216–0.768) | 0.006 |
| Tumor size | 0.360 (0.189–0.687) | 0.002 |
| Anesthesia method | 0.576 (0.413–0.804) | 0.001 |
| Inpatient day | 0.347 (0.123–0.983) | 0.046 |
| Ablation method | 0.892 (0.470–1.691) | 0.726 |
Multivariable Cox regression model analysis of RFS and OS after PSM.
| Multivariable Cox regression | HR (95%CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Tumor number | 0.521 (0.330–0.823) | 0.005 |
| AFP | 0.496 (0.307–0.802) | 0.004 |
| Tumor size | 0.565 (0.338–0.945) | 0.030 |
| Ablation method | 0.890 (0.603–1.313) | 0.558 |
| Age | 0.390 (0.205–0.741) | 0.004 |
| Anesthesia method | 0.422 (0.195–0.912) | 0.028 |
| Ablation method | 1.169 (0.596–2.291) | 0.65l |
The RFS rates and survival rates of patients before PSM.
(*Point-wise 95% CI).
| Time | MW ablation group ( | RF ablation group ( | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RFS rates (95% CI*) | No. events | No. censored | No. left | RFS rates (95% CI*) | No. events | No. censored | No. left | |
| At treatment | 100 | 218 | 100 | 234 | ||||
| 1 yr | 66.5 (60.2–72.8) | 73 | 0 | 145 | 60.3 (54.0–66.6) | 93 | 0 | 141 |
| 2 yr | 52.8 (46.1–59.5) | 101 | 24 | 93 | 45.9 (39.4–52.4) | 124 | 34 | 76 |
| 3 yr | 47.2 (40.3–54.1) | 110 | 41 | 67 | 40.6 (33.7–47.5) | 131 | 60 | 43 |
| 4 yr | 42.1 (34.8–49.4) | 117 | 72 | 29 | 35.5 (27.5–43.5) | 134 | 97 | 3 |
| OS rates (95% CI*) | No. events | No. censored | No. left | OS rates (95% CI*) | No. events | No. censored | No. left | |
| At treatment | 100 | 218 | 100 | 234 | ||||
| 1 yr | 92.7 (89.2–96.2) | 16 | 0 | 202 | 96.6 (94.2–99.0) | 8 | 0 | 226 |
| 2 yr | 84.5 (79.6–89.4) | 32 | 47 | 139 | 88.5 (84.0–93.0) | 24 | 69 | 141 |
| 3 yr | 77.5 (71.2–83.8) | 42 | 81 | 95 | 83.9 (78.4–89.4) | 30 | 148 | 56 |
| 4 yr | 72.3 (64.9–79.7) | 47 | 132 | 39 | 79.7 (70.1–89.3) | 31 | 196 | 7 |