Radiofrequency ablation versus stereotactic body radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis

The present meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. A systematic literature search was conducted of online databases prior to February 21, 2021. Eleven articles involving 8429 patients were included. The pooled hazard ratio for overall survival (OS) of RFA versus SBRT was 0.79 (p < 0.001). Statistically significant differences were found in the 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-year pooled OS and freedom from local progression (FFLP) rates between the two groups, favoring the RFA arms. However, the pooled local control (LC) rates were higher in the SBRT arm. RFA provided better OS and FFLP for treating HCC, while SBRT achieved superior LC. Lay abstract: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) are two common nonsurgical methods for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma patients. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy of the two methods. The analysis included 11 original studies after online databases search prior to 21 February 2021. The results showed that RFA provided better survival benefits and less local disease progression for the treatment of HCC patients, while SBRT obtained superior local control of tumor tissues.