The roles of microwave tissue coagulation therapy in the multidisciplinary treatments for patients with liver metastases

Abstract

The possible use of microwave tissue coagulation therapy (MCT) for metastatic liver tumor was studied.
The subjects were 13 patients with one or a few metastatic liver tumors less than 4 cm in diameter. All patients were received chemotherapy concurrently. Their primary lesions were 7 gastric, 2 mammary, 2 colorectal, and 2 pancreatic cancers. The MCT was performed at the output of 30W for 90 seconds under percutaneous route or 60W for 45 seconds under laparotomy. We judged complete coagulation of the tumor using Enhanced CT one week later the irradiation.
Only 3 local recurrence was recognized in the completely coagulated area and median disease free interval was 8 months (3 to 66 months). Their survivals were from 4 to 56 months and 50% median survival time (MST) was 15 months. The prognosis was especially poor in the patients with pancreatic cancer. Thus, these results suggest that MCT can be a useful tool as a local therapy in the multidisciplinary treatments for patients with metastatic liver tumor.