2017 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 25-32
Purpose: We evaluated the clinical usefulness and safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the treatment of lung tumors.
Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included patients who underwent RFA for the treatment of lung tumors at our institution from March 2006 to April 2015. Technical success, safety, local tumor progression, and survival were evaluated.
Results: In total, 41 patients (28 men and 13 women; median age, 69 years; range 37-88 years) with 51 malignant lung tumors measuring 0.6-6.8 cm (mean, 1.7 ± 1.2 cm) completed 46 planned RFA sessions. Lung tumors were primary in 22 patients and metastatic in 19 patients. Four tumors were not completely surrounded by an ablation zone on computed tomography immediately after RFA (technical success rate; 91.3%, 42/46). One of 41 patients (2.4%) died of pneumonia in the contralateral lung 26 days after RFA. Grade 2 symptomatic pneumothorax (n = 5) and hemothorax (n = 1) and grade 1 asymptomatic pneumothorax (n = 9) occurred during the procedure. Grade 3 pneumonia (n = 1) and grade 2 fever (n = 2) occurred within 30 days of follow-up. During a mean follow-up period of 20.3 ± 19.1 months, local tumor progression developed in 8 of 51 tumors (15.7%). Eleven patients (26.8%) died of cancer progression (n = 9) or pneumonia (n = 2). The 5-year overall survival rate was 53.5% (95% confidence interval, 31.1-75.9%). Tumor size was a significant prognostic factor on Cox proportional hazards analysis.
Conclusion: RFA was a safe and useful treatment option for malignant lung tumors.
