A case of repeated surgical resections for tumor seeding of hepatocellular carcinoma after radiof requency ablation

: We report a case of repeated surgical resections for the tumor seeding of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after radiofrequency ablation(RFA). A 79-year-old man, who had an intrahepatic recurrence of HCC(segment 2)5 months after RFA, was referred to our hospital for surgery, and underwent a laparoscopic lateral segmentectomy. Histological examination showed a poorly differentiated HCC(pStage II). Eight months after RFA, subcutaneous nodules along the RFA needle tract were pointed out by abdominal CT, and a tumorectomy was performed. Nineteen months after RFA, abdominal CT showed a 33mm tumor on the side of the spleen, leading to the diagnosis of the peritoneal dissemination following RFA. The tumor has been growing up to 49mm in size in spite of a radiation therapy. Accordingly, a laparoscopic tumorectomy was performed 26 months after RFA. His resected tumors were morphologically identical to the intrahepatic recurrence of HCC. The patient had remained recurrence-free for 4 months after the second tumorectomy. Our case demonstrated the utility of surgical resection for the tumor seeding of HCC following RFA.