The effect of percutaneous ethanol injection therapy on small solitary hepatocellular carcinoma is comparable to that of hepatectomy.

Abstract Forty patients with solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) smaller than 20 mm in diameter were admitted to our hospitals from March 1986 to December 1989. Of that 40 patients, 17 were treated with hepatectomy, 12 with percutaneous ethanol injection therapy, and 11 with the combination of percutaneous ethanol injection therapy and transcatheter arterial embolization. Following up the patients after their first treatment for 2 months to 6 yr, as of April 30, 1993, we evaluated the effects of hepatectomy, percutaneous ethanol injection therapy, and the combination of percutaneous ethanol injection therapy and transcatheter arterial embolization. Of the 23 patients who did not undergo surgery, eight died from recurrence of HCC and one died from ruptured varices. Of the 14 surviving patients, 10 experienced recurrences during the follow-up period. Of the 17 patients who underwent surgery, one died in hospital and four died from recurrence of carcinoma. Of the remaining 12 patients, nine experienced recurrences. The cumulative survival and recurrence rates were similar in operated and nonoperated patients. There was no significant difference in these rates in patients treated with versus without transcatheter arterial embolization. Our results showed that the efficacy of hepatectomy and the efficacy percutaneous ethanol injection therapy for small solitary HCC were similar. However, percutaneous ethanol injection therapy was safer and less expensive than hepatectomy.