Clinical efficacy of hepatic arterial chemoembolization before percutaneous microwave ablation on liver cancer in elderly patients

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE)before percutaneous microwave ablation(MWA)on liver cancer in elderly patients. Methods Eighty elderly patients with primary liver cancer admitted into our hospital from January 2015 to December 2017 were randomly divided into the MWA group(n=32)and the MWA combined with TACE group(n=48). The MWA group received percutaneous microwave ablation, and the MWA combined with TACE group were treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization before percutaneous microwave ablation.The therapeutic effects were compared between groups. Results The total effective rate was increased in the MWA combined with TACE group vs.MWA group(79.2% vs.56.3%, χ2=7.064, P=0.008). The proportion of patients who presented with serum AFP level >200 mg/L had no significant difference between the combination group and the MWA group(68.8% vs.70.8%, χ2=0.040, P=0.842). While, after treatment, the proportion of patients who presented with serum AFP level decreased by >50% was higher in the combination group than in the MWA group(79.2% vs.56.3%, χ2=7.064, P=0.008). There was no significant difference in the incidences of adverse reactions between the two groups(P>0.05). Conclusions Compared with percutaneous microwave ablation, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization combined with percutaneous microwave ablation has a better efficacy and higher safety. Key words: Liver neoplasms; Radiology, interventional; Ablation techniques