Ablative technologies in the management of patients with primary and secondary liver cancer: an overview.
Interventional ablative technologies have played an increasingly important role in the management of patients with primary or secondary liver malignancies. Ethanol and acetic acid ablation were the primary modalities available 2 decades ago. Today, several new technologies are available, including radiofrequency ablation, cryoablation, and microwave ablation. Radiofrequency ablation is the most widely practiced, however, cryoablation and microwave ablation are reasonable choices in certain situations. Irreversible electroporation is a newer technique, which has yet to enter clinical practice, but shows promising preliminary results. Herein, we provide a brief overview of the above-mentioned technologies with a focus on principles of ablation and technique. We also describe the use of these techniques in the context of cytoreduction, a noncurative approach aimed at reducing the overall tumour burden and providing concomitant survival benefit.
Khan
Nasir A
NA
Undergraduate Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Baerlocher
Mark O
MO
Owen
Richard J T
RJ
Ho
Stephen
S
Kachura
John R
JR
Kee
Stephen T
ST
Liu
Dave M
DM
D055011:Ablation Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D003287:Contrast Media; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography
D003287:Contrast Media