Clinical experiences with microwave thermal ablation of lung malignancies

Abstract

Approximately 30% of early stage lung cancer patients are not surgical candidates due to medical co-morbidities, poor cardiopulmonary function and advanced age. These patients are traditionally offered chemotherapy and radiation, which have shown relatively modest improvements in mortality. For over a decade, percutaneous image-guided ablation has emerged as a safe, cost-effective, minimally invasive treatment alternative for patients who would otherwise not qualify for surgery. Although radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is currently the most extensively studied and widely utilised technique in the treatment of lung malignancies, there is a growing body of evidence that microwave ablation (MWA) has several unique benefits over RFA and cryoablation in the lung. This article reviews our institution’s clinical experiences in the treatment of lung malignancies with MWA including patient selection, procedural technique, imaging follow-up, treatment outcomes and comparison of ablation techniques.

Keywords:

• Lung cancer
• microwave ablation
• minimally invasive therapy
• radiofrequency ablation

Disclosure statement

D.D. received a research grant from NeuWave Medical Inc., is a BSD Medical Corporation stockholder, is on the Board of Directors of BSD Medical Corporation, and is a speaker for BSD Medical Corporation at educational symposia. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.