Intra-operative microwave ablation of liver malignancies with tumour permittivity feedback control: a prospective ablate and resect study

Abstract

MWA of liver tumours with tumour permittivity feedback control is feasible and appears effective for the treatment of small (< 3 cm) liver tumours.

Interstitial microwave treatment for cancer: historical basis and current techniques in antenna design and performance

“…Clinical studies show that when the system was used for 15-60 min at 10-32 W to treat 23 liver tumours of 4-7 cm in diameter, there was an average of 2.5 treatments needed per tumour [119]. Furthermore, in another study with the same system, tumours larger than 3 cm were only partially ablated [120]. Based on the heterogeneity in results among institutions, systems and study designs, along with the manufacturer's ablation guidance only in ex vivo tissue, it is vitally important for any practitioner to understand their particular device and its optimal conditions for use, both by ex vivo and in vivo animal models, and in carefully followed clinical studies with imaging.…”

Understanding the Nuances of Microwave Ablation for More Accurate Post-Treatment Assessment

“…For instance, some studies include the hyperemic zone which may contain viable cells, and this may make comparing ablation volumes fairly across MWA technologies even more challenging, leading to inconsistencies discerning the differences between ex vivo versus in vivo data [14,36]. In a prospective ablate and resect study, the zone of cell death, which was assessed by triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, was always greater than the macroscopic gross measurement by approximately 25% [15]. Of note, the same study that was able to detect larger in vivo ablation volumes compared with ex vivo ablation volumes at high wattages also utilized TTC staining, which may be a more sensitive assay for necrosis than gross margin assessments using calipers [1].…”

Percutaneous microwave ablation of benign thyroid nodules

“…MWA is a comparatively new thermal ablative technique that has already been successfully put to use in order to treat malignancies in other organs such as the liver (29). The limited number of clinical and experimental studies dealing with the use of MWA in the treatment of thyroid nodules has presented encouraging results featuring a favorable profile of adverse effects (8,23,24,40), yet largely lacking an analysis of ablated nodules in terms of functional aspects.…”