Abstract
From November 1973 to June 1992, cryosurgery with liquid nitrogen (−196°C) was performed on 113 patients with hepatic cancer, including 107 patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) and 6 patients with secondary liver cancer (SLC). Of the 107 PLC patients, the subclinical stage constituted 30.8% (33/107), the moderate stage 61.7% (66/107), and the late stage 7.5% (8/107). There were 32 cases with small PLC (up to 5 cm). Liver cirrhosis was observed in 86.0% (92/107). We designed flat cryoprobes for freezing surface tumors, and single and multiple trocar cryoprobes for freezing tumors deep within the hepatic parenchyma. Intraoperative ultrasound was used for monitoring hepatic cryolesions. There were no operative mortalities and complications, such as rupture of a tumor, delayed bleeding, or bile leakage. The 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 22.0% and 8.2%, respectively, for the 107 PLC patients and 48.8% and 17.1%, respectively, for the 32 patients with small PLC. Of the 6 SLC patients, survival ranged from 2 months to 90 months (average, 23.2 months). One SLC patient has been well for 7 years and 6 months after cryosurgery. These results indicate that cryosurgery, the in situ freezing of cancer, is a safe and effective treatment for unresectable hepatic cancer.
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Abbreviations
- PLC:
-
primary liver cancer
- SLC:
-
secondary liver cancer
- IOUS:
-
intraoperative ultrasound
- AFP:
-
α-fetoprotein
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Zhou, XD., Tang, ZY., Yu, YQ. et al. The role of cryosurgery in the treatment of hepatic cancer: a report of 113 cases. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 120, 100–102 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01200732
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01200732