Fig. 1. The number of patients included in the ITT, PP, and PT an alyses. Excluding protocol violations, 26 and 29 patients of the HR and RFA groups, respectively, were included in the PP an alysis. The final PT analysis was performed in 31 and 32 pa tients of the HR and RFA groups, respectively, according to actual treatment modalities and not the assigned modalities. HR, hepatic resection; RFA, radiofrequency ablation; ITT, intention-to-treat; PP, per-protocol; PT, per-treatment.