Microwave ablation in the treatment of primary lung tumors

Recent years have witnessed the refinement and significant growth of several new, minimally invasive approaches for the nonsurgical treatment of primary lung malignancies. For select patients, these technologies offer an attractive treatment option given their availability in the outpatient setting and low associated morbidity and mortality. Microwave ablation represents the most recent addition to the growing armamentarium of available ablative technologies. Administered in a manner similar to radiofrequency ablation, the lung tumor is localized under imaging guidance, and a microwave antenna is placed directly into the tumor bed. In contrast to existing thermoablative technologies, however, microwave treatment offers several key theoretical advantages. These include consistently higher intratumoral temperatures, larger ablation volumes, reduced treatment times, and improved convection profile. As a nascent technology, efficacy and outcomes data for microwave ablation of pulmonary malignancies remain relatively lacking compared with other thermoablative techniques; however, early trials have demonstrated promising results. It is hoped that further refinements in the clinical application of this technology will continue to improve the care of patients with lung cancer.