Table 2.

Randomized studies comparing RFA and PEI in the treatment of early-stage HCC

Author	No. of patients	Tumour size	Complete ablation (%)	Treatment failure (%)a	Three-year overall survival	P
Lencioni et al. [4]
RF	52	1	91	8	81	>0.05
PEI	50	HCC < 5 cm or 3 HCCs < 3 cm	82	34	73
Lin et al. [5]
RF	52	1–3 HCCs	96	17	74	0.014
PEI	52	<4 cm	88	45	50
Shiina et al. [6]
RF	118	1–3 HCCs	100	2	80	0.02
PEI	114	<3 cm	100	11	63
Lin et al. [7]
RF	62	1–3 HCCs	97	16	74	0.031
PEI	62	<3 cm	89	42	51
Brunello et al. [8]
RF	70	1–3 HCCs	96	34	59	>0.05
PEI	69	<3 cm	66	64	57

^aIncludes initial treatment failure (incomplete response) and late treatment failure (local recurrence/progression)