Review of asian experience of thermal ablation techniques and clinical practice

The field of image-guided tumour ablation has gained great attention from Asian physicians because it represents a safe and effective technique for many commonly seen tumours in this population, showing minimal morbidity and excellent local control rates. Based on the current survey data from Asian physicians who are currently performing image-guided tumour ablation, thermal ablation has been mainly performed for patients with unresectable liver tumours. Radiofrequency ablation has replaced many other local ablation techniques such as microwave or ethanol ablation in treating small focal hepatic tumours for the last 5 years. Surgery and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization also have a unique role as curative and palliative treatment options for patients with more extensive tumour burden. Although radiofrequency ablation represents a paradigm shift in local therapy, more sophisticated strategies to enhance the therapeutic efficacy are necessary and more randomized and controlled investigations to estimate its clinical benefit are warranted.