RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The (Eternal) Debate on Microwave Ablation Versus Radiofrequency Ablation in BCLC-A Hepatocellular Carcinoma JF In Vivo JO In Vivo FD International Institute of Anticancer Research SP 3421 OP 3429 DO 10.21873/invivo.12181 VO 34 IS 6 A1 ANGELA DALIA RICCI A1 ALESSANDRO RIZZO A1 CHIARA BONUCCI A1 SIMONA TAVOLARI A1 ANDREA PALLONI A1 GIORGIO FREGA A1 VERONICA MOLLICA A1 NASTASSJA TOBER A1 ELENA MAZZOTTA A1 CRISTINA FELICANI A1 CARLA SERRA A1 GIOVANNI BRANDI YR 2020 UL http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/34/6/3421.abstract AB Background/Aim: While percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is considered the standard ablative modality for the treatment of early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) is being increasingly used in recent years. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare percutaneous MWA versus percutaneous RFA in BCLC-A HCC across randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Patients and Methods: Eligible studies included RCTs assessing MWA versus RFA in BCLC-A HCC. Outcomes of interest included: complete ablation (CA) rate, local recurrence (LR) rate, 1-year overall survival (OS) rate, 3-year OS rate and major complications rate. Results: We retrieved all the relevant RCTs through PubMed/Medline, Cochrane library and EMBASE; five eligible studies involving a total of 794 patients (MWA: 409; RFA: 385) and 1008 nodules of HCC (MWA: 519; RFA: 489) were included in our analysis. No significant differences were found between MWA and RFA regarding CA, LR, 3-year OS and major complications rate. Regarding 1-year OS, a higher rate was observed in the MWA group. Conclusion: MWA and RFA are effective and safe techniques in early stage, BCLC-A, HCCMWA resulted in better 1-year OS, although this benefit was not confirmed in the 3-year analysis.