title: Ablative technologies in the management of patients with primary and secondary liver cancer: an overview.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Undergraduate Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Nasir A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Mark O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Baerlocher
authors.forename: Richard J T
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Kachura
authors.forename: Stephen T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Kee
authors.forename: Dave M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media