Radiofrequency ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma sized > 3 and ≤ 5 cm: Is ablative margin of more than 1 cm justified?

Table 1 Comparison of patient clinical characteristics between the 0.5-1.0 cm group and the > 1.0 cm group n (%)

Variable	0.5-1.0 cm group (n = 158)	> 1.0 cm group (n = 123)	P value1
Age (yr)	52 (24-88)	51 (27-84)	0.467
Gender
Male/female	109 (69.0)/49 (31.0)	86 (69.9)/37 (30.1)	0.873
Pre-existing hepatitis
Hepatitis B	125 (79.1)	106 (86.2)	0.133
Hepatitis C	13 (8.2)	5 (4.1)	0.161
Hepatitis B and C	1 (0.6)	1 (0.8)	0.859
Child-Pugh grade
Class A/class B	78 (49.4)/80 (50.6)	58 (47.2)/65 (52.8)	0.754
Liver cirrhosis
Yes/No	55 (34.8)/103 (65.2)	37 (30.1)/86 (69.9)	0.417
Serum a-fetoprotein level (ng/mL)
< 20	17 (10.8)	11 (8.9)	0.622
20-200	116 (73.4)	93 (75.6)	0.681
> 200	25 (15.8)	19 (15.4)	0.938
Tumor location
S2,S3,S4,S6,S7/S5,S8	73 (46.2)/85 (53.8)	56 (45.5)/67 (54.5)	0.923
Biochemical analysis
AST (IU/L)	46.5 (11.3-235.2)	46.1 (12.1-202.7)	0.793
ALT (IU/L)	48.4 (15.6-240.0)	47.9 (13.8-212.4)	0.560
Alb (g/dL)	3.7 (2.9-4.2)	3.6 (2.8-4.2)	0.460
T-Bil (mg/dL)	0.9 (0.7-1.4)	0.9 (0.6-1.4)	0.594
ALP (IU/L)	83.5 (7.7-376.6)	84.2 (8.1-284.8)	0.744
PT (%)	80.5 (58-100)	83.0 (59-100)	0.262
AFP (ng/mL)	83.2 (6.3-1301.9)	82.5 (5.4-750.7)	0.849
Tumor diameter(cm)	4.1 (3.1-5.0)	4.1 (3.3-5.0)	0.652
No. of ablation sessions before getting AM ≥ 0.5 cm
1 session/2 sessions	115 (72.8)/43 (27.2)	99 (80.5)/24 (19.5)	0.143
Approaches of the first ablation session			0.978
Percutaneous	121 (76.6)	94 (76.4)
Laparoscopic	37 (23.4)	29 (23.6)
Open	0 (0)	0 (0)

Values presented as absolute numbers (percent of cases) or median (range).

¹Fisher’s exact test or Mann-Whitney U test. AFP: α-fetoprotein; Alb: Albumin; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AM: Ablative margin; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; PT: Prothrombin time; T-Bil: Total bilirubin.