Effects of radiofrequency ablation combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization on liver function and AFP levels in patients with liver cancer

Objective:To evaluate the effects of radiofrequency ablation( RFA) single used or combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization( TACE) on the short-term liver function,alpha fetal protein( AFP) levels in patients with liver cancer.Methods:The data of 60 patients with liver cancer treated with RFA( n = 30) or RFA combined with TACE( n = 30) from January 2011 to January 2013 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were retrospectively analyzed.The liver function of all the patients was grade A by Child classification before the treatment.The liver function in the second day and the change of AFP levels after 1 week were observed after the treatment.Results:Both the two treatments could lead to a rise of alanine aminotransferase( ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase( AST) levels and a decline of AFP levels.The combined treatment could also result in a rise of total bilirubin( TBiL) and alkaline phosphatase( ALP) levels which were statistically significant compared with the preoperative levels( P 0.05).The combined treatment could cause a rise of the ALT and ALP levels and a decline of AFP levels compared with the single treatment( P 0.05).Conclusion:Under the same ablation range,RFA combined with TACE could have a better effect on short-term liver function and AFP than RFA single used.