Effect Of Transarterial Interventional Therapy In Prevention Of Postoperative Recurrence In Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Objective: To evaluate the effect of transarterial interventional therapy (TAIT) in prevention of postoperative recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods and Material: 206 patients with HCC who had undergone radical surgery between 1999 and 2006 were reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups according receiving TAIT or not. The treatment group consists of 128 patients who had undergone TAIT and the control group consists of 78 patients without receiving any TAIT. Usually, the patients in the treatment group were given TAIT around 1 month after operation. The postoperative cumulative recurrent rates of 0.5 to 3 years were analyzed respectively. The prognostic clinical and pathological factors were also analyzed statistically.Results: The 0.5-, 1-, 2-, and 3-years of cumulative recurrent rates in study group were 15.6%, 37.5%, 71.9%, and 87.5% respectively, while as were 30.8%, 56.4%, 76.9%, and 92.3% respectively in the control group. Significant differences of the cumulative recurrent rates were noted between the two groups in 6 months and 1 year (P<0.05). TAIT was very important in preventing post-operative recurrence in patients with high risk factors, such as tumor with partial or no encapsules, tumors with thromboses, tumor with large volume, and if the surgical margin was positive.Conclusion: Post-operative TAIT was very useful in preventing earlier post-operative recurrence in patients with HCC, especially in those with high risk factors.