Percutaneous endobiliary radiofrequency ablation with stent placement in type IV hilar cholangiocarcinoma: A prospective comparison with stent placement alone.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the safety and effectiveness of percutaneous endobiliary radiofrequency ablation with stent placement (RFA group) versus stent placement alone (stent group) in patients with type IV hilar cholangiocarcinoma.
Methods: This prospective nonrandomized study was conducted between October 2021 and April 2023. The study included 56 participants (33 men and 23 women, median age 73 years) who underwent percutaneous endobiliary RFA with stent placement (n = 25) or stent placement alone (n = 31) for type IV hilar cholangiocarcinoma. The primary end point was stent patency, while the secondary end points were procedure-related adverse events (AE) and overall survival.
Results: The percutaneous endobiliary RFA and/or stent placement were successfully completed in all patients in both groups. The median stent patency rate was higher in the RFA group than the stent group (188 days vs. 155 days, p = 0.048). There were no differences in AEs (grade 1 [5 in RFA group vs. 5 in stent group, p = 0.74] and grade 2 AEs [2 vs. 4, p = 0.68]) and patients' survival (median 222 days vs. 214 days, p = 0.49) between the two groups.
Conclusions: In patients with type IV hilar cholangiocarcinoma, percutaneous endobiliary RFA with stent placement may improve stent patency without increasing the risk of AEs compared to stent placement alone.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest This research was supported by grant no 14-2019-026, 14-2022-0049, and 06-2020-188 from the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital Research Fund. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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