A research team at Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital has demonstrated the efficacy of ultra-high frequency heat therapy in treating liver cancer for the first time in Korea.
High-frequency heat treatment has been a typical cure for liver cancer by using an electrode needle to penetrate the cancer cells and killing the cancer cells with heat at 60 to 100 degrees Celsius. However, the treatment had limitations in treating liver cancer large in size or near blood vessels.
To resolve this problem, physicians have recently turned to microwave ablation as an alternative treatment that complements the limitations of radiofrequency ablation. The method uses an electromagnetic field that can quickly treat a wider area with a high temperature, less affecting surrounding tissues, including blood vessels.
Still, there have been no studies comparing the actual treatment results of the two treatments in Korea.
Accordingly, the research team, led by Professors Jo Se-hyeon of the Department of Gastroenterology and Jeong Dong-jin of the Department of Radiology, analyzed the treatment effect after implementing the two treatments. Professor Lee Soon-gyu also participated in the study.
The research team compared and analyzed the two-year disease-free survival rate, the cure rate, the two-year survival rate, and the incidence of complications in 150 patients diagnosed with liver cancer or recurrent liver cancer at the hospital from 2014 to 2021.
The result showed that the one-year and two-year disease-free survival rates were significantly higher in the microwave ablation group than in the high-frequency heat treatment group.
There was no difference between the two treatments in cure rate, two-year survival rate, and overall complication rate, while severe complications were fewer in the microwave ablation group.
Notably, when the liver cancer cells are spread around blood vessels or the recurrence rate is high, and the size of the cancer cells is small, microwave ablation treatment showed a superior disease-free survival rate than high-frequency heat treatment.
"We will improve the prognosis and quality of life of liver cancer patients by developing safer and more effective treatment methods in actual clinical practice," Professor Jo said.
Professor Lee said, "It is a meaningful result that reports the efficacy and safety of microwave ablation treatment in reducing the recurrence of liver cancer, and is a practical basis for planning customized treatment for each liver cancer patient."
Journal of Clinical Medicine published the study's results in its latest issue.