Editorial

Excerpt

In recent years, several methods for thermal destruction of liver tumors through localized heating or freezing—including radiofrequency (RF) ablation, microwave ablation, laser ablation, and cryoablation—have been developed and clinically tested. Particular interest has centered on treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), as most of these patients have underlying liver disease, which substantially increases surgical morbidity, and the tumor is associated with a very high rate of recurrences due to the emergence of new lesions over time. Although many authors have suggested that RF ablation could represent a viable treatment option for nonsurgical patients with HCC, until recently the technique did not achieve broad acceptance, given the paucity of studies reporting long-term survival data. …