Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jun 26, 2024; 12(18): 3395-3402
Published online Jun 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i18.3395
Short-term efficacy of microwave ablation in the treatment of liver cancer and its effect on immune function
Li-Jun Yao, Xiao-Ding Zhu, Liu-Min Zhou, Li-Li Zhang, Na-Na Liu, Min Chen, Jia-Ying Wang, Shao-Jun Hu
Li-Jun Yao, Liu-Min Zhou, Li-Li Zhang, Na-Na Liu, Min Chen, Jia-Ying Wang, Shao-Jun Hu, Department of Oncology, Suzhou Ninth People's Hospital, Suzhou 215200, Jiangsu Province, China
Xiao-Ding Zhu, Department of Rehabilitation, Suzhou Xiangcheng District Rehabilitation Hospital, Suzhou 215132, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Yao LJ wrote the manuscript; Yao LJ and Hu SJ reviewed the manuscript; Yao LJ, Zhu XD, Zhou LM, Zhang LL, Liu NN, Chen M, Wang JY and Hu SJ collected the data; and all authors annotated the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethic Committee of Suzhou Ninth People's Hospital.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent for this study, as it is a retrospective clinical study and the analysis used previous clinical data.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shao-Jun Hu, BSc, Doctor, Department of Oncology, Suzhou Ninth People's Hospital, No. 2666 Ludang Road, Taihu New Town, Wujiang District, Suzhou 215200, Jiangsu Province, China. hsjrain@126.com
Received: March 14, 2024
Revised: April 29, 2024
Accepted: May 14, 2024
Published online: June 26, 2024
Processing time: 95 Days and 19.3 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Hepatectomy is the first choice for treating liver cancer. However, inflammatory factors, released in response to pain stimulation, may suppress perioperative immune function and affect the prognosis of patients undergoing hepatectomies.

AIM

To determine the short-term efficacy of microwave ablation in the treatment of liver cancer and its effect on immune function.

METHODS

Clinical data from patients with liver cancer admitted to Suzhou Ninth People’s Hospital from January 2020 to December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty-five patients underwent laparoscopic hepatectomy for liver cancer (liver cancer resection group) and 35 patients underwent medical image-guided microwave ablation (liver cancer ablation group). The short-term efficacy, complications, liver function, and immune function indices before and after treatment were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

One month after treatment, 19 patients experienced complete remission (CR), 8 patients experienced partial remission (PR), 6 patients experienced stable disease (SD), and 2 patients experienced disease progression (PD) in the liver cancer resection group. In the liver cancer ablation group, 21 patients experienced CR, 9 patients experienced PR, 3 patients experienced SD, and 2 patients experienced PD. No significant differences in efficacy and complications were detected between the liver cancer ablation and liver cancer resection groups (P > 0.05). After treatment, total bilirubin (41.24 ± 7.35 vs 49.18 ± 8.64 μmol/L, P < 0.001), alanine aminotransferase (30.85 ± 6.23 vs 42.32 ± 7.56 U/L, P < 0.001), CD4+ (43.95 ± 5.72 vs 35.27 ± 5.56, P < 0.001), CD8+ (20.38 ± 3.91 vs 22.75 ± 4.62, P < 0.001), and CD4+/CD8+ (2.16 ± 0.39 vs 1.55 ± 0.32, P < 0.001) were significantly different between the liver cancer ablation and liver cancer resection groups.

CONCLUSION

The short-term efficacy and safety of microwave ablation and laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of liver cancer are similar, but liver function recovers quickly after microwave ablation, and microwave ablation may enhance immune function.

Keywords: Microwave ablation, Liver cancer, Short-term efficacy, Liver function, Immunologic function

Core Tip: Survival is prolonged by laparoscopic surgery in patients with liver cancer. However, the safe range of tumor boundaries is poorly defined and damage to adjacent normal structures can affect liver and immune functions. Our study demonstrated that the short-term efficacy and safety of medical image-guided microwave ablation is similar to laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of liver cancer, but the liver function recovered quickly after microwave ablation, which could enhance immune function.