Transarterial Chemoembolization Combined with Radiofrequency Ablation in the Treatment of Stage B1 Intermediate Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Due to the heterogeneity of patients with Barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), Bolondi criteria were proposed and patients were divided into four substages. The purpose of this study was to compare the survival of substage B1 patients who were initially treated with a combination of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (TACE-RFA) or TACE alone. METHODS: 404 patients with stage B1 HCC were retrospectively analyzed from January 2005 to December 2012. 209 patients received TACE-RFA, and 195 received TACE alone as initial treatment. The overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. RESULTS: 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 83.7%, 45.8%, and 24.8% in the TACE-RFA group and 80.7%, 26.4%, and 16.7% in the TACE group, respectively (P=0.003). The corresponding PFS rates were 71.8%, 26.6%, and 13.0% and 59.1%, 11.0%, and 2.2% in the TACE-RFA group and TACE group, respectively (P < 0.001). Multivariate regression analysis indicated that tumor size (OS: hazard ratio (HR) = 0.683, P=0.001; PFS: HR = 0.761, P=0.013), along with treatment allocation (OS: HR = 0.701, P=0.003; PFS: HR = 0.620, P < 0.001), was the independent prognostic factor for both OS and PFS. CONCLUSIONS: Combination TACE and RFA treatment yielded better survival than TACE alone for patients with stage B1 HCC according to the Bolondi criteria.