| Theme | Controversies Over Diagnosis and Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Is Radio-Frequency Ablation Therapy Superior to Alcohol Ablation Therapy for Liver Cancer? | |
| Publish Date | 2002/08 | |
| Author | Fuminori Moriyasu | Department of Internal Medicine, Tokyo Medical University |
| [ Summary ] | Both alcohol injection therapy and radio-frequency coagulation therapy are termed "ablation". Ablation in this case means degeneration of tissue. PEIT is a form of chemical ablation and RFA is a form of thermal ablation. These two are the same in terms of necrosis of cancer cells and destruction of cancerous tissue. The biggest difference between RFA and PEIT is that the necrotised area produced by a single session of RFA is larger and more precise than that produced by a PEIT session. Therefore, the period of therapy and associated pain are drastically reduced. One the other hand, RFA is safer than PEIT in cases with adverse events, since injury to vessels including bile ducts, can be avoided because of the cooling effects of the blood flow. The main disadvantage of RFA compared to PEIT is the level of mental stress for doctors who are not highly skilled. Principles and practice are mentioned in this chapter. |
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