Hepatocellular carcinoma tumor thrombus entering the inferior vena cava treated with percutaneous RF ablation: a case report.

PURPOSE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form of liver cancer. In advanced cancer stages (metastatic disease and/or vascular invasion), the generally accepted standard of care is systemic therapy using sorafenib as first-line treatment and, recently, regorafenib and nivolumab as second-line treatment, but the quality of life and the prognosis of patients remain very poor. Our paper reports a case of US-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of both intraparenchymal HCC and inferior vena cava tumor thrombus.

METHODS: We treated a patient with HCC associated with tumor thrombus extending into vena cava after failure of sorafenib therapy using US-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA).

RESULTS: A good radiological and clinical response was observed in association with excellent tolerability. The patient has been followed up for 15 months from the ablation, is alive, and is in a good clinical condition without evidence of tumor recurrence.

CONCLUSION: This is the first case in which this minimally invasive percutaneous procedure has been successfully used to treat an HCC thrombus entering the vena cava.