Radiofrequency ablation for stage < IIB non ‐small cell lung cancer: Opportunities, challenges, and the road ahead

This article focuses on the application of RFA in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients, including the indication population, patient prognosis, and complications, and also summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of surgery versus RFA based on the current research base. At the same time, this article focuses on the development of RFA in combination with targeted or immunotherapy to provide new research directions for the application of RFA in lung cancer. AbstractPulmonary carcinoma represents the second common cancer for human race while its mortality rate ranked the first all over the world. Surgery remains the primary option for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in some surgical traditions. Nevertheless, only less than half of patients are operable subjected to the limited lung function and multiple primary/metastatic lesions. Recent improvements in minimally invasive surgical techniques have made the procedure accessible to more patients, but this percentage still does not exceed half. In recent years, radiofrequency ablation (RFA), one of the thermal ablation procedures, has gradually advanced in the treatment of lung cancer in addition to being utilized to treat breast and liver cancer. Several guidelines, including the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), include RFA as an option for some patients with NSCLC although the level of evidence is mostly limited to retrospective studies. In this review, we emphasize the use of the RFA techn...
Source: Thoracic Cancer - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: REVIEW Source Type: research