Objective: To evaluate the efficacies of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) plus iodine (¹³¹I) tumor necrosis therapy monoclonal antibody (¹³¹I-chTNT) for advanced stage hepatocellular carcinoma.
Methods: The clinical data of 38 hepatocellular carcinoma patients confirmed clinically or pathologically were retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into 2 groups (RFA group, n = 22; combination group, n = 16) according to the treatment mode. The median follow-up period was 31 (8-49) months.Survival was estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method and the survival curve compared by log-rank test.
Results: Thirteen cases in RFA group and 7 cases in combination group died of tumor progression or complications of liver cirrhosis. The median survival time in combination group was significantly than RFA group (43 vs 37 months) (P = 0.039). The overall survival rates at 1, 2 and 3 years (100%, 87.5%, 75% respectively) were higher than those in RFA group (81.8%, 58.2%, 51.7% respectively).
Conclusion: For hepatocellular carcinoma with a special site and a diameter ≥ 5 cm, RFA plus ¹³¹I-chTNT treatment can prolong progression-free survival time. And its short-term curative effect is better than that of RFA therapy. And the long-term outcomes may be further explored by a large-sample, multi-center and randomized trial.