Safety and efficacy of percutaneous thermal ablation in colorectal carcinoma liver metastases

Safety and Efficacy of Percutaneous Thermal Ablation in Colorectal Carcinoma Liver Metastases Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of percutaneous thermal ablation in colorectal carcinoma liver metastases. Material and Methods: This single-center retrospective study was conducted on 51 consecutive patients (67 tumors) diagnosed with Colorectal Carcinoma Liver (CRC) metastasis who underwent thermal ablation with the tumor council decision of our hospital between June 2012 and May 2019. After thermal ablation, patients were followed up at 1st month and 3-months intervals thereafter. Response rates, factors affecting the treatment results, overall survival, local recurrence and complications were evaluated. Findings: In this study, 51 (26 [%51] woman) patients with a total of 67 metastases who underwent percutaneous thermal ablation for CRC metastasis were evaluated for treatment response and procedure safety. The ages of the patients included in the study were between 26 and 76 years (median age 54.9 years). The median overall survival was 34 months (range 1-45 months). The effects of new intrahepatic metastasis on overall survival were significant (p = 0.02). In the third month of follow-up, 86.6% of the tumors were treated with complete response. Local recurrence was observed in 26.8% of the treated tumors during the whole period of follow-up. Tumor size and ablation margin were found to affect the clinical success of the procedure. No major or minor complications were observed in any patient. Conclusion: In Colorectal Carcinoma Liver metastases thermal ablation is an effective and reliable treatment method with appropriate preparation and technique. Tumor size and secondary ablation edge of the procedure are the factors that affect the efficacy of the procedure. Keywords: Colorectal carcinoma liver metastasis, locoregional therapies, thermal ablation, overall survival, local recurrence.