Radiofrequency Ablation of the Main Lesion of Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Bile Duct Tumor Thrombus as a Radical Therapeutic Alternative: Two Case Reports

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with bile duct tumor thrombus (BDTT) formation is a rare entity found microscopically in 1% to 9.2% of resected specimens. The ideal treatment for HCC is surgical resection. However, because of poor hepatic functional reserve in patients with HCC, most tumors are unresectable. Here, we report 2 cases of HCC with BDTT type III accompanied by hepatic dysfunction that were successfully treated with radiofrequency (RF) ablation. We used RF ablation as both a radical therapeutic method and an efficient way to control bleeding from the origin of BDTT after BDTT removal. At the time of writing, the 2 patients have been disease-free for 16 and 12 months, respectively. Our results show that RF ablation may be used as a radical therapeutic alternative for HCC with BDTT in patients with liver cirrhosis and obstructive jaundice.