Ongoing Clinical Trials

It has been well accepted that radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an effective local ablation therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Recently, a new modality of thermal ablation for liver tumors using HIFU has been developed, which is totally extracorporeal without the need of needle puncture. HIFU has several advantages over RFA: (1) There is no risk of needle track seeding or bleeding from needle puncture. (2) There is clear boundary between targeted therapy zone and non-targeted zone, with hardly any damage beyond target zone. (3) HIFU can be used to ablate tumors larger than 5 cm, although it requires a longer duration of HIFU treatment.

This study aims to evaluate the safety and complete ablation rate of HIFU for unresectable HCCs, as well as the long-term local and distant recurrence rate, and survival. It is hoped that the results of the study will add to the evidence available in the literature regarding the role of this therapy in treatment of HCC.

1. Diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
2. No more than 2 HCC lesions with and > 10cm in maximum diameter
3. Have preserved liver function

1. Patients with prior transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as treatment for the targeted tumors
2. Patients with local recurrence at site of previous radiofrequency ablation or other local ablation therapies
3. Have extrahepatic disease