Synchronous percutaneous core-needle biopsy and microwave ablation for stage I non-small cell lung cancer in patients with Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: initial experience

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the safety and feasibility of computed tomography (CT)-guided synchronous percutaneous core-needle biopsy (CNB) and microwave ablation (MWA) for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Methods

From January 2019 to January 2023, nineteen stage I NSCLC patients with IPF underwent CT-guided synchronous percutaneous CNB and MWA in this study. The technical success rate, complications, local tumor progression (LTP) and overall survival (OS) were observed, and the effect of synchronous percutaneous CNB and MWA were evaluated.

Results

The technical success rate of synchronous percutaneous CNB and MWA was 100%. With a median follow-up time of 20.36 months, the median OS was 25 months (95% CI: 21.79, 28.20). The six-, twelve- and eighteen-month OS rates were 94.73%, 89.47% and 57.89%, respectively. The six-, twelve- and eighteen-month LTP rates were 0%, 10.52% and 31.57%, respectively. Major complications including pneumothorax, bronchopleural fistula and pneumonia occurred in 26.32% (5/19) patients. None of the patients died during the procedure.

Conclusions

According to the results of the current study, CT-guided synchronous percutaneous CNB and MWA appears to be a safe and effective for stage I NSCLC in patients with IPF and providing an alternative therapeutic option for local control of pulmonary malignancy in high-risk patients.

Keywords:

• Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
• non-small cell lung cancer
• microwave ablation
• percutaneous core-needle biopsy
• computed tomography

Acknowledgments

We thank all participants recruited for this study.

Ethics statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The ethics committee waived the requirement of written consent for participation. Written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s) for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article.

Author contributions

Conception and design: Li XG and Li B; Provision of study materials or patients: Bie ZX and Li YM; Collection and assembly of data: Guo RQ and Wang CE; Data analysis and interpretation: Li B and Bie ZX; Manuscript writing: Li B; Final approval of manuscript: all authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

In addition to the raw data in the manuscript, the datasets used are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.