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Updated: Mar 13, 2026
Thermal Ablation for the Treatment of Abdominal Tumors
Published on: March 7, 2011
Percutaneous Thermal Ablation for Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Initial Experience with Ten Tumors in Nine Patients
Aaron W P Maxwell1, Terrance T Healey1, Damian E Dupuy1
1Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 593 Eddy St., Providence, RI 02903.
Purpose:
To evaluate outcomes in a small cohort of patients with local or disseminated small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) who received percutaneous thermal ablation therapy.
Materials And Methods:
Ten biopsy-proven SCLC tumors in 9 consecutive patients (5 men, 4 women; average age, 73.8 y ± 12.4) were retrospectively evaluated. Average tumor sizes were 1.8 cm ± 0.5 and 2.6 cm ± 1.2 among patients with local and disseminated disease, respectively. Microwave and radiofrequency ablation were each used for 5 tumors. None of the patients with local SCLC received adjuvant therapy following thermal ablation. Median follow-up duration was 16 months (range, 2-48 mo). Median and 1-year overall survival (OS) were compared for patients in the local and disseminated disease groups.
Results:
Median and 1-year OS were better among patients treated for local SCLC compared with disseminated disease (47.0 vs 5.5 mo and 3 [100%] vs 2 [40%], respectively). Pneumothorax occurred in 5 patients (55.6%), and 3 patients received successful outpatient thoracostomy tube placement. No patients were hospitalized, and there were no major complications.
Conclusions:
This preliminary analysis suggests favorable outcomes in selected patients with local SCLC who undergo percutaneous thermal ablation without adjuvant therapy.
