When doctors treat small to medium tumors in the liver, they often choose between two types of thermal ablation: radiofrequency (RFA) and microwave (MWA). Both methods use heat to destroy cancer cells. A review of 19 studies looked at these two methods to see if one outperformed the other for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
The findings show that both RFA and MWA are equally effective. Patients treated with either method had similar rates of complete tumor destruction, five-year survival, and one-year disease-free survival. The study also found no significant difference in major safety risks between the two treatments. While an early look at one-year survival suggested a slight edge for microwave, that finding did not hold up when researchers removed studies with a high risk of bias.
Because both methods work similarly well, doctors can choose the best option based on each patient's specific needs. However, it is important to note that some data regarding long-term disease-free survival was inconsistent across studies, meaning those specific results should be viewed with caution.
