First Experience of Ultrasound-guided Percutaneous Ablation for Recurrent Hepatoblastoma after Liver Resection in Children

Sci Rep. 2015 Nov 18:5:16805. doi: 10.1038/srep16805.

Abstract

This study aimed to summarize the first experience with ultrasound-guided percutaneous ablation treatment (PAT) for recurrent hepatoblastoma (HB) after liver resection in children. From August 2013 to October 2014, PAT was used to treat 5 children with a total of 8 recurrent HB (mean size, 1.4 ± 0.8 cm; size range, 0.7-3.1 cm), including 4 patients with 7 tumors in the liver and 1 patient with 1 tumor in the lung. Technical success was achieved in all patients (5/5, 100%). The complete ablation rate after the first ablation session was 80% (4/5) on a patient-by-patient basis and 87.5% (7/8) on a tumor-by-tumor basis. Only 1 patient developed a fever with temperature >39 °C; it lasted 4 days after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and was resolved by conservative therapy. During the follow-up period, new intrahepatic recurrences after PAT were detected in two patients. One died due to tumor progression 4 months after ablation. The median overall survival time after PAT was 13.8 months. PAT is a safe and promising therapy for children with recurrent HB after liver resection, and further investigation in large-scale randomized clinical trials is required to determine its role in the treatment of this disease.

MeSH terms

  • Catheter Ablation / methods*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Female
  • Hepatoblastoma / diagnostic imaging*
  • Hepatoblastoma / mortality
  • Hepatoblastoma / surgery*
  • Hepatoblastoma / therapy
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Liver Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Liver Neoplasms / mortality
  • Liver Neoplasms / surgery*
  • Liver Neoplasms / therapy
  • Male
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Retreatment
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Surgery, Computer-Assisted*
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Tumor Burden
  • Ultrasonography*