Therapeutic comparison between radiofrequency ablation and percutaneous ethanol injection in treatment of primary liver cancer: a meta-analysis

Objective To compare the efficacy of radiofrequency ablation( RFA) versus percutaneous ethanol injection( PEI) in the treatment of primary liver cancer( PLC). Methods A search of Pub Med,EMBASE,CKNI,VIP,and Wanfang Data identified all randomized controlled trials( RCTs) related to therapeutic comparison between RFA and PEI in patients with PLC. Quality of each study was assessed,meta- analysis was performed with Review Manager 5. 0 software,and the results were analyzed with fixed effect model and random effect model. Results Seven RCTs were included in this study. The results of meta- analysis indicated that,compared with the PEI group,the RFA group had a significantly higher tumor necrosis rate( P = 0. 008,OR = 2. 66,95% CI: 1. 29- 5. 48). The 1-,2-,and 3- year survival rates and 1- and 3- year tumor- free survival rates of the RFA group were significantly higher than those of the PEI group( P <0. 05). The RFA group had significantly lower 1-,2-,and 3- year local recurrence rates in comparison with the PEI group( P < 0. 05).There was no significant difference in 2- year tumor- free survival rate between the two groups( P = 0. 06). Conclusion The efficacy of RFA is superior to that of PEI,which is of clinical significance to guide the selection of methods for PLC treatment.