Study: Acetic acid in vinegar injected into cancer to kill it

September 2, 2009

Surgical removal of the cancer is the treatment of choice for small

liver cancers, but others options may be considered for patients who

decline surgery or who have inoperable cancer. This study compared three

alternative approaches to destroying small liver cancers: radiofrequency

thermal ablation (use of electric current to destroy cancer cells);

ethanol injection (injection of alcohol into the tumor to kill cancer

cells); and acetic acid injection (injection of acetic acid, the primary

acid in vinegar, into the tumor to kill cancer cells). Each of these

approaches involves the placement of a probe through the skin and into

the cancer. The prone is guided by imaging such as computed tomography

(CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or ultrasound.

Investigators from Taiwan conducted a randomized clinical trial to

compare these three approaches among a total of 187 adult patients with

hepatocellular carcinomas measuring three centimeters or less. Sixty-two

patients were treated with radiofrequency ablation, 62 were treated with

ethanol injection, and 63 were treated with acetic acid injection. After

three years of follow-up, cancer recurred in 14% of those treated with

radiofrequency ablation, 34% of those treated with ethanol, and 31% of

those treated with acetic acid. Survival was also better in the

radiofrequency ablation group: 74% survived for at least three years

after treatment, compared to 51% of the ethanol group and 53% of the

acetic acid group. However, major complications were also more common in

the patients receiving radiofrequency ablation. Two of these patients

developed a hemothorax (blood in between the chest wall and the lung),

and one had a perforation of the stomach (a hole through the wall of the

stomach). There were no major complications among patients receiving

ethanol or acetic acid injections.

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