Hepatic Cryosurgery

ABSTRACT

The optimal treatment of primary or metastatic liver cancer is the complete surgical excision of the tumors. Hepatoma has a poor prognosis, especially in the case of unresectable hepatoma. In such cases, variable therapeutic modalities have been tried in attempts to improve the prognosis of the hepatoma patients. One of these modalities is hepatic cryosurgery, which has received increased attention recently. We have experienced four cases of hepatic cryosurgery on unresectable hepatomas at the ChungAng University Hospital in Korea, the first such cases, from September 1995 to December 1995. There was an excellent therapeutic outcome in one case. We expect that hepatic cryosurgery will serve as a new and effective therapeutic modality for unresectable hepatoma.