Long-term clinical outcome of lung radiofrequency ablation in patients with musculoskeletal sarcoma

Long-term outcomes in patients with lung metastases from sarcomas remain unreported. We retrospectively evaluated the clinical utility of lung radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in 52 patients with musculoskeletal sarcoma-derived lung metastases.

The study cohort included 29 men and 23 women with a mean age of 55 years at the time of the initial lung RFA, with a mean follow-up duration of 49.2 months. Complete treatment was defined as achieving a tumor-free status following the initial lung RFA. Cases failing to achieve this were classified as incomplete treatment.

At the final follow-up, 14 patients remained alive, while 38 had died from this disease. Multivariate analysis confirmed that complete ablation and longer disease-free interval were significant prognostic factors. The median survival time for the 27 patients with complete treatment was 96.7 months, compared with 13.1 months for the 25 patients with incomplete treatment. The 3- and 5-year survival rates after the initial RFA in the 27 patients with complete treatment were 55.3% and 51.4%, respectively, whereas the corresponding rates for the incomplete treatment group were 16% and 10.7%. Of the 27 patients who achieved complete treatment, 4 had no new lung metastases, whereas 23 developed new lung metastases and/or local relapse. Local tumor progression occurred in 30 of 266 lung tumors (11%); larger tumors showed a higher incidence of progression. No procedure-related mortality was reported.

Lung RFA can be a valuable option for treating lung metastases in patients with musculoskeletal sarcoma.