Percutaneous Image-Guided Microwave Ablation for Treating Postsurgical Intrapulmonary Oligometastases or...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Thoracic Surgery
• Minimally Invasive Therapies

Background:

• Postsurgical intrapulmonary oligometastases or oligorecurrence (PIORO) presents a clinical challenge.
• Thermal ablation techniques, including microwave ablation (MWA), are explored for managing PIORO.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the clinical efficacy of microwave ablation (MWA) for treating patients with postsurgical intrapulmonary oligometastases or oligorecurrence (PIORO).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of clinical data from 31 patients with PIORO treated with MWA.
• Follow-up included computed tomography (CT) scans and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis for overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and time to local progression (TTLP).

Main Results:

• MWA achieved successful treatment in all patients with PIORO.
• The 3-year survival rate was 35.5%, with a median OS of 26.0 months, median PFS of 11.1 months, and median TTLP of 14.4 months.
• Tumours ≤3 cm demonstrated significantly better PFS and TTLP compared to larger tumours (>3 cm).

Conclusions:

• Microwave ablation (MWA) is an effective topical therapeutic option for tumour patients with PIORO.
• MWA is particularly beneficial for patients with oligometastatic or oligorecurrent tumours measuring ≤3 cm in diameter.