Endoscopic biliary treatment of unresectable cholangiocarcinoma: A meta-analysis of survival outcomes and systematic review

Table 5 Demographics, procedural, and survival outcomes of endoscopic radiofrequency ablation vs photodynamic therapy

	Demographic data
	Strand et al[13], 2014				Schmidt et al[15], 2016				Gao et al[14], 2018
Number of patients	RFA	16		P = 0.1	RFA	14		NA	RFA
	PDT	32			PDT	20			PDT
Gender (male)	RFA	10		P = 1.0	RFA	8		P = 0.1	RFA
	PDT	19			PDT	6			PDT
Age (mean, yr)	RFA	64.3 ± 11.9		P = 0.1	RFA	73 ± 9		P = 0.2	RFA
	PDT	69.5 ± 13.6			PDT	70 ± 12			PDT
Number of treatments	RFA	28 (mean: 1.2)		P = 0.02	RFA	31		NA	RFA
	PDT	60 (mean: 2.1)			PDT	36			PDT
Median survival (month)	RFA	9.6		P = 0.8	RFA	NA		NA	RFA
	PDT	7.5			PDT	NA			PDT
Lead time to initial treatment (days)	RFA	NS		P = 0.6	RFA	300 ± 270		NA	RFA
	PDT	NS			PDT	120 ± 90			PDT
Total bilirubin concentration (µmol/dL)	RFA	NA		NA	RFA	3.3 ± 3.9		P = 0.7	RFA
	PDT	NA			PDT	4.1 ± 6.9			PDT
Tumor location	RFA	Intrahepatic	1	P = 0.1	RFA	Intrahepatic	1	P = 0.5	RFA
		Hilar	13			Hilar	11
		Distal/Extrahepatic	2			Distal/Extrahepatic	1
	PDT	Intrahepatic	0		PDT	Intrahepatic	3		PDT
		Hilar	32			Hilar	15
		Distal/Extrahepatic	0			Distal/Extrahepatic	1
N1 staging	RFA	7		P = 0.8	RFA	3		P = 0.4	RFA
	PDT	12			PDT	2			PDT
M1 staging	RFA	6		P = 0.2	RFA	2		P = 0.8	RFA
	PDT	6			PDT	6			PDT
Stents placed	Total	RFA	115	NA	Total	RFA	29	NA	Total
		PDT	307			PDT	44
	Plastic	RFA	69	NA	Plastic	RFA	26	NA	Plastic
		PDT	264			PDT	38
	Total metallic	RFA	46	NA	Total metallic	RFA	3	NA	Total metallic
		PDT	43			PDT	6
	Fully covered	RFA	17	NA	Fully covered	RFA	NA	NA	Fully covered
		PDT	14			PDT	NA
	Uncovered	RFA	29	NA	Uncovered	RFA	NA	NA	Uncovered
		PDT	29			PDT	NA
Number of ERCPs	RFA	91		NA	RFA	NA		NA	RFA
	PDT	170			PDT	NA			PDT
Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD)	RFA	2		P = 0.2	RFA	2		P = 0.3	RFA
	PDT	10			PDT	6			PDT

RFA: Radiofrequency ablation; PDT: Photodynamic therapy; NA: Not available; NS: Not significant; P: P vaule as it relates to each comparator category.