Health-Related Quality of Life Comparisons After Radical Therapy for Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract Background For cancer patients, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is as important as other key outcomes, such as overall survival and tumor-free survival. Liver transplantation (LT), resection, and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are 3 radical therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that result in similar survival. The main objective of this study was to assess and compare long-term HRQoL scores for patients with early-stage (tumor diameter ≤3 cm) HCC after LT, resection, or RFA. Methods A total of 128 HCC patients with a single tumor ≤3 cm and who agreed to undergo LT, resection, or RFA were included in the present analysis. Postoperative HRQoL was evaluated by using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire. The 3 groups were compared at the 6-month and 3-year time points. Results The 3 groups showed comparable 3-year HCC recurrence rates ( P > .05). Compared with the LT and resection groups, the RFA group had significantly higher scores for bodily pain, general health, and vitality 6 months after surgery (all  P  values  P Conclusions Due to its comparable HCC recurrence rate and superior long-term HRQoL scores relative to other radical therapies, RFA may be the first-choice treatment for solitary early-stage HCC.