Ablation therapy improves survival for patients with inoperable liver tumors

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Contact: Jonnie Rohrer

jrohrer@...

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

Ablation therapy improves survival for patients with inoperable liver tumors

WINSTON-SALEM ?Using radiofrequency energy or liquid nitrogen to remove

inoperable liver tumors can extend patient survival, according to new

research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Results of the study were reported at the Society of Surgery for the

Alimentary Tract in Chicago on May 16.

" Currently with the latest chemotherapy treatments, patients with inoperable

liver tumors resulting from colorectal cancer have a median survival of 20

months, " said Shen, M.D., assistant professor of surgical oncology at

Wake Forest University School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist. " Our

study was designed to see if ablation therapy could improve those survival

times. "

Shen and colleagues at Wake Forest Baptist studied 150 patients between 1994

and 2005 with liver cancer that had spread from colorectal cancer. Patients

were treated with surgery when possible. Inoperable tumors were treated with

ablation or a combination of surgery and ablation.

The median survival time for patients who had surgery alone was 39 months.

For patients having ablation therapy, the median survival was 33 months

?compared to the 20-month median previously reported for patients whose

tumors were treated with chemotherapy.

However, there was a significant difference between the two groups in

disease recurrence, especially in the liver. The median time to recurrence

of liver disease in the ablation group was 11 months and in the surgery

group it was 17 months. The use of chemotherapy in combination with these

therapies was found to improve overall survival.

The overall 3-year survival rate for the patients was 51 percent. Patients

with inoperable disease had significantly more tumors and more evidence of

disease that had spread beyond the liver. There was no significant

difference in overall survival for patients undergoing surgery versus those

undergoing ablation or the ablation/surgery combination.

" The results of this study show that tumor ablation therapy for inoperable

liver metastases from colorectal cancer can extend survival for patients

with a poor prognosis, " said Shen.

The addition of chemotherapy after surgery or ablation may offer the best

results.

" Whether tumor ablation is equal to liver surgery in the long term will

require further investigation, " Shen said.

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Media Contacts: Jonnie Rohrer, jrohrer@...; Koontz,

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About Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center: Wake Forest Baptist is

an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and

Wake Forest University School of Medicine. It is licensed to operate 1,187

acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is

consistently ranked as one of " America's Best Hospitals " by U.S. News &

World Report.