Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41566992›Full record

ArticleUltrasonography (Seoul, Korea)2026

Prospective evaluation of the safety and efficacy of microwave ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma in Korean patients.

Min Woo Lee, Hyunchul Rhim, Seong Hyun Kim, Kyoung Doo Song, Tae Wook Kang, Joon Hyeok Lee, Won Seok Kang, Jaclyn Stanziola, Abdullah Mamun, Hector De Leon and 1 more

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Article in Ultrasonography (Seoul, Korea), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Min Woo LeeDepartment of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Hyunchul RhimDepartment of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Seong Hyun KimDepartment of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kyoung Doo SongDepartment of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Tae Wook KangDepartment of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Joon Hyeok LeeDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Won Seok KangDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Jaclyn StanziolaEthicon, Inc., Raritan, NJ, USA.
Abdullah MamunEthicon, Inc., Raritan, NJ, USA.
Hector De LeonEthicon, Inc., Raritan, NJ, USA.
Erin Elyse MeyersEthicon, Inc., Raritan, NJ, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThis study evaluated the 3-year safety and efficacy of microwave ablation (MWA) as an alternative to radiofrequency ablation in Korean patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

methodsIn this prospective single-center study, 33 adults with a single HCC lesion (2-5 cm; Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage A) were enrolled between December 2017 and May 2020. All underwent ultrasound-guided MWA using the NEUWAVE system. One patient did not complete post-treatment evaluation and two had protocol deviations, yielding a full analysis set of 30 patients and a safety analysis set of 33 patients. Study endpoints included technical success (TS), technique efficacy (TE), local tumor progression (LTP), overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AEs) over a 3-year follow-up period.

resultsAll 33 patients were included in the safety analysis, while 30 were included in the efficacy analysis. Most patients were male (83.3%), with a median age of 64 years and a mean tumor size of 2.5±0.6 cm. Median follow-up was 36.2 months. TS and TE were achieved in all cases. The 3-year cumulative LTP rate was 7.3%, and the 3-year OS rate was 90.0%. Minor AEs occurred in 54.5% of patients, most commonly post-ablation pain and fever. Two patients (6.1%) experienced major AEs, including pyrexia and duodenal thermal injury. No procedure- or device-related deaths occurred.

conclusionMWA appears to be a safe and effective treatment for early-stage HCC, demonstrating durable tumor control and a low incidence of major complications over 3 years.

Indexed as

EfficacyHepatocellular carcinomaLiver tumorMicrowave ablationSafety

Identifiers

PMID41566992
PMCPMC12853256

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.