Purpose: The present study retrospectively evaluated the feasibility, safety, and short-term efficacy of computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) to treat multiple synchronous ground-glass opacities (GGOs) of the lung. Materials and Methods: From October 2016 to May 2019, 33 patients (9 males and 24 females, mean age: 59.6 ± 10.0 years) with multiple GGOs (103 GGOs with mean size 12.3 ± 6.3 mm) were enrolled in this study. Patients underwent 66 procedures of CT-guided percutaneous MWA. The feasibility, safety, local progression-free survival, and overall survival were evaluated. Results: The technical success and technique efficacy rate were 100% and no MWA procedure-related deaths were reported. The median follow-up period was 18.1 (range: 6.8–37.7) months. Major complications included pneumothorax (11/66, 16.7%), pleural effusion (2/66, 3.0%), pneumonia (3/66, 4.5%), and nerve injury (1/66, 1.5%), which were well controlled by appropriate treatment. Minor complications included pneumothorax (38/66, 57.6%), pleural effusion (43/66, 65.2%), hemoptysis (13/66, 19.7%), subcutaneous emphysema (4/66, 6.1%), and hemothorax (2/66, 3.0%). Currently, all patients are alive without local progression or tumor recurrence, despite the relatively insufficient follow-up time. Conclusion: CT-guided percutaneous MWA for the treatment of multiple synchronous lung GGOs is feasible, safe, and efficacious over short-term follow-up. It may also be employed as an alternative approach for nonsurgical candidates. A longer follow-up is warranted to evaluate the oncologic outcomes.

Although surgical lobectomy with systematic mediastinal lymph node evaluation is considered as the “gold standard” for management of early stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), image‐guided percutaneous thermal ablation has been increasingly used for medically inoperable patients. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a research‐based technique that has the most studies for medically inoperable early‐stage NSCLC. Other thermal ablation techniques used to treat pulmonary tumors include microwave ablation (MWA), cryoablation and laser ablation. MWA has several advantages over RFA including reduced procedural time, reduced heat‐sink effect, large ablation zones, decreased susceptibility to tissue impedance, and simultaneous use of multiple antennae. This review article highlights the most relevant updates of MWA for the treatment of early‐stage NSCLC, including mechanism of action, clinical outcomes, potential complications, the existing technique problems and future directions.

Despite the application of antiviral drugs and improved surveillance tools, the number of patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at an advanced stage and with a dismal prognosis is still on the rise. Systemic treatment with multiple multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as sorafenib, has been a widely utilized approach for a decade. In addition, the use of a combination of TKIs with other types of compounds, including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and antiangiogenic inhibitors, has shown efficacy in treating advanced HCC. However, the presence of intolerable adverse events, low disease response and control rates, and relative short overall survival of such combinatory therapies makes novel or optimized therapies for advance HCC urgently needed. Locoregional therapy (transarterial chemoembolization, and thermal ablation) can destroy primary tumors and decrease tumor burden and is widely used for HCC management. This type of treatment modality can result in local hypoxia and increased vascular permeability, inducing immunogenic effects by releasing tumor antigens from dying cancer cells and producing damage-associated molecular patterns that facilitate antiangiogenic therapy and antitumor immunity. The combination of systemic and locoregional therapies may further produce synergistic effects without overlapping toxicity that can improve prognoses for advanced HCC. In preliminary studies, several combinations of therapeutic modes exhibited promising levels of safety, feasibility, and antitumor effects in a clinical setting and have, thus, garnered much attention. This review aims to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the underlying mechanisms of combined systemic and locoregional therapies in the treatment of advanced HCC, commenting on both their current status and future direction.