Local Ablative Therapies in HCC: Percutaneous Ethanol Injection and Radiofrequency Ablation

Vol. 27, No. 2, 2009

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Treatment and Modalities

Local Ablative Therapies in HCC: Percutaneous Ethanol Injection and Radiofrequency Ablation
Andreas H. Mahnken^{a, b}, Philipp Bruners^{a, b}, Rolf W. Günther^a

^aDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and
^bApplied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

Address of Corresponding Author

Dig Dis 2009;27:148-156 (DOI: 10.1159/000218347)

Key Words

Percutaneous ethanol injection
Radiofrequency ablation
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Interventional oncology

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary hepatic malignancy. Surgery and transarterial chemoembolization have for many years dominated the local treatment of HCC. The introduction of image-guided percutaneous techniques for local tumor ablation changed the treatment of liver cancer. Percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) have both successfully been employed in the treatment of HCC. In current guidelines both techniques are recommended as standard therapy in limited liver cancer. From the current literature both techniques have to be considered safe and effective in the treatment of HCC. Several randomized trials showed RFA to be superior to PEI for treating small HCC. Moreover, several studies analyzed survival after PEI or RFA in comparison with surgery, proving interventional therapy to be a serious competitor of resection. With introduction of combined interventional therapies including transarterial chemoembolization, PEI and RFA survival was improved further. In this article, we provide an insight into the technical basics of PEI and RFA and review the clinical results and indications of these interventional techniques in the treatment of HCC.

Author Contacts

Andreas H. Mahnken, MD, MBA
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen University
Pauwelsstrasse 30, DE-52074 Aachen (Germany)
Tel. +49 241 808 8332, Fax +49 241 808 2499
E-Mail mahnken@rad.rwth-aachen.de

Article Information

Published online: June 22, 2009
Number of Print Pages : 9
Number of Figures : 2, Number of Tables : 2, Number of References : 64

Medline Abstract (ID 19546553)

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