Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 28, 2020; 26(32): 4833-4845
Published online Aug 28, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i32.4833
Features of extrahepatic metastasis after radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma
Jae H Yoon, Young J Goo, Chae-Jun Lim, Sung K Choi, Sung B Cho, Sang S Shin, Chung H Jun
Jae H Yoon, Young J Goo, Chae-Jun Lim, Sung K Choi, Department of Gastroenterology, Chonnam National University Hospital and Medical School, Gwangju 61469, South Korea
Sung B Cho, Department of Gastroenterology, Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital and Medical School, Hwasun 58128, South Korea
Sang S Shin, Department of Radiology, Chonnam National University Hospital and Medical School, Gwangju 61469, South Korea
Chung H Jun, Department of Internal Medicine, Mokpo Hankook Hospital, Mokpo 58643, South Korea
Author contributions: Yoon JH and Jun CH designed and performed the research and wrote the paper; Choi SK designed the research and supervised the report; Lim CJ and Goo YJ contributed to the analysis; Cho SB and Shin SS provided clinical advice.
Supported by the Research Supporting Program of The Korean Association for the Study of the Liver and the Korean Liver Foundation, No. KASLKLF2019-06.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Chonnam National University Hospital (CNUH-2019-203). Research was conducted in accordance with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent requirement was waived because the patient data were de-identified.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chung H Jun, MD, Doctor, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Mokpo Hankook Hospital, 483 Yeongsan-ro, Mokpo 58643, South Korea. estevanj@naver.com
Received: April 2, 2020
Peer-review started: April 2, 2020
First decision: April 29, 2020
Revised: May 4, 2020
Accepted: August 12, 2020
Article in press: August 12, 2020
Published online: August 28, 2020
Core Tip

Core tip: Extrahepatic metastasis (EHM) after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) takes place in substantial clinical situations and EHM of HCC is related with dismal prognosis. Our study provides characteristics and risk factors for EHM after RFA of HCC. EHM after RFA at the time of the first recurrence is rare; however, cumulative EHM frequently occurs following multiple intrahepatic recurrences. Most of the patients (86.4%) had either positive contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan results or serum alpha-fetoprotein level elevation at EHM. EHM turned out to be related with recurrence-free survival < 2 years, ablation zone/tumor size < 2, and alpha-fetoprotein level > 400 IU/mL.