Image-guided microwave ablation of hepatic tumours: preliminary experience. Termoablazione imaging-guidata con microonde (MWA) di neoplasie

PURPOSE: Microwave thermal ablation (MWA) opens up a new scenario in the field of image-guided tumour ablation thanks to its potential advantages over validated radiofrequency ablation (RFA). In this pilot study, we assessed the technical success, safety and efficacy of MWA in treating hepatic malignancies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After obtaining informed consent, we enrolled 15 inoperable patients, for a total of 19 lesions (ten metastases, nine hepatocellular carcinoma) with a mean diameter of 47 mm (range 14-78 mm). Mean follow-up was 8 (range 1-14) months. RESULTS: Technical success reached 100%. Complications (one major and one minor) occurred in two cases. Complete ablation, obtained in 68.4% of cases, showed no significant correlation with either cancer histological type or with lesion diameter. At follow-up, treatment failures occurred in 60% of cases; lesion diameter was the only prognostic factor for maintaining complete ablation. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary results should encourage further trials of this technique. MWA proved to be feasible and safe in treating advanced-stage liver tumours and represented an additional therapeutic attempt to be validated in further and larger efficacy studies.