Systemic chemotherapy combined with radiofrequency ablation for colorectal cancer with liver metastasis: a retrospective cohort study

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of systemic chemotherapy combined with radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of inoperable colorectal cancer with liver metastasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective cohort analysis on 30 patients diagnosed as colorectal cancer with liver metastasis who underwent systemic chemotherapy combined with radiofrequency ablation of the liver lesions from January 2017 to August 2020 at our institution. Responses was evaluated by International Working Group on Image-guided Tumor Ablation criteria, along with progression-free survival. RESULTS: The response rate after 4 cycles and 8 cycles of chemotherapy were 73.3% and 85.2%, respectively. All patients achieved responses after of radiofrequency therapy, with the rates of complete response and partial response were 63.3% and 36.7%. The median progression-free survival was 16.7 months. After radiotherapy ablation, all patients had mild to moderate hepatic pain, 10% of patients had fever and increased liver enzymes occurred in 90% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Systemic chemotherapy combined with radiofrequency ablation was safe and effective in colorectal cancer with liver metastasis and warrants further large-scale studies.