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Irreversible Electroporation For Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Longer-Term Outcomes At A Single Centre

  • Clinical Investigation
  • Interventional Oncology
  • Published:
CardioVascular and Interventional Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

A Correction to this article was published on 16 November 2020

This article has been updated

Abstract

Background and Aims

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a non-thermal ablation technique for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) not amenable to standard thermal ablation. The aim of this study was to report our longer-term outcomes using this treatment modality.

Method

We identified all patients at our institution who underwent IRE for HCC between December 2008 and October 2019 as recommended after multi-disciplinary team review. Demographic, clinical, tumour response and survival data up until 1 March, 2020 were analysed. The primary outcome was local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) in patients who had a complete response (CR). Secondary outcomes included CR rates, procedure-related complications and the incidence of death or liver transplantation.

Results

A total of 23 patients (78% males, median age 65.2 years) received IRE therapy to 33 HCC lesions during the study period with the median tumour size being 2.0 cm (range 1.0–5.0 cm). Twenty-nine (87.9%) lesions were successfully ablated after one (n = 26) or two (n = 3) procedures. The median follow-up time for these lesions was 20.4 months. The median overall LRFS was 34.5 (95% CI 24.8 -) months with a 6- and 12-month LRFS of 87.9% (95% CI 75.8–100) and 83.6% (95% CI 70.2–99.7), respectively. Tumours < 2 cm had a 12-month LRFS of 100% (95% CI 100–100).

Conclusion

IRE appears to be an efficacious local ablative method for early stage HCC not amenable to standard ablative techniques, with very good CR rates and longer-term LRFS, particularly for smaller lesions. Further studies comparing this technique to more widely accepted ablative methods such as radiofrequency and microwave ablation are warranted.

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Change history

  • 16 November 2020

    An author was inadvertently omitted from the author list. Helen Kavnoudias should be listed as third author. The added author’s name and affiliation are marked by underlines.

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Funding

This study was not supported by any funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, Alfred Hospital, The Alfred55 Commercial Rd, Melbourne, 3004, Australia

    E. Freeman, A. Majeed, W. Kemp & S. K. Roberts

  2. Department of Radiology, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

    W. Cheung & H. Kavnoudias

  3. Department of Medicine, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    A. Majeed, W. Kemp & S. K. Roberts

Authors
  1. E. Freeman
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  2. W. Cheung
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  3. H. Kavnoudias
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  4. A. Majeed
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  5. W. Kemp
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  6. S. K. Roberts
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Elliot Freeman. The first draft was written by Elliot Freeman and EF, WC, AM, WK, and SKR reviewed earlier versions of the manuscript, with all authors reviewing and approving the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. K. Roberts.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

For this type of study, formal consent is not required. The study protocol was approved by the Alfred Hospital Ethics Committee (Project No: 163/20).

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The original online version of this article was revised: An author was inadvertently omitted from the author list. Helen Kavnoudias should be listed as third author. The added author’s name and affiliation are marked by underlines. E Freeman1, W Cheung2, H Kavnoudias2, A Majeed1,3, W Kemp13, SK Roberts1,3 2Department of Radiology, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

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Freeman, E., Cheung, W., Kavnoudias, H. et al. Irreversible Electroporation For Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Longer-Term Outcomes At A Single Centre. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol 44, 247–253 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-020-02666-4

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