Radiofrequency ablation for hepatic metastasis from gastric adenocarcinoma

The prognosis for gastric cancer with liver metastasis continues to be poor. We present our preliminary findings from 4 cases of liver metastasis from gastric adenocarcinomas treated using radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Between 1995 and 2004, the clinical history and course of 4 patients who underwent radiofrequency ablation for liver metastases from gastric cancer were reviewed. Two patients with smaller metachronous metastasis are currently alive without recurrence at 16 and 14 months and the other patients with larger synchronous metastatic lesions died after 4 and 12 months after RFA. Although this study was limited to a few cases and had a short follow-up duration, our findings suggest that RFA may provide an alternative treatment modality for liver metastasis resulting from gastric adenocarcinoma. Additional study is needed with a larger group of patients and longer follow up to evaluate the efficacy of RFA.