The effectiveness of radiofrequency ablation for patients with BCLC B1 stage hepatocellular carcinoma downgraded by transarterial chemoembolization

To evaluate the effectiveness of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) as a curative therapy for BCLC B1 stage (beyond Milan criteria but within up-to-seven criteria) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) followed by downstageing by using transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).We retrospectively recruited patients underwent RFA alone and who underwent RFA following downstaging into BCLC B1 stage using TACE between April 2011 and August 2017. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were compared using the Kaplan-Meier method. A propensity score analysis was performed to reduce potential bias.The downstaging TACE+RFA and RFA alone group comprised 50 and 110 patients, respectively. After propensity score matching, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS rates were 100%, 92%, 74%, respectively, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year RFS rates were 40%, 36%, and 20%, respectively, for patients in the downstaging TACE+RFA group. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS rates were 96%, 90%, and 82%, respectively, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year RFS rates were 51%, 32%, and 32%, respectively, for patients in the RFA group. No statistical differences were observed between the two groups in terms of OS and RFS before and after matching.RFA after downstaging into BCLC B1 stage using TACE offered a safe and effective treatment regime for patients with HCC beyond the up-to-seven criteria. The intermediate-term OS and RFS of RFA following downstaging into BCLC B1 stage using TACE for HCC were similar to that of patients who were initially in BCLC B1stage.