Safety and efficacy of CT-guided percutaneous microwave ablation for stage I non-small cell lung cancer in patients with comorbid idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of microwave ablation (MWA) for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). A retrospective single-center cohort study was conducted in patients with clinical stage I NSCLC who underwent CT-guided MWA from Nov 2016 to Oct 2021. The patients were divided into the IPF group and the non-IPF group. The primary endpoints were 90-day adverse events and hospital length of stay (HLOS). The secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). A total of 107 patients (27 with IPF and 80 without IPF) were finally included for analysis. No procedure-related acute exacerbation of IPF or death occurred post-MWA. The rates of adverse events were similar between the groups (48.6% vs. 47.7%; p = 0.998). The incidence of grade 3 adverse events in the IPF group was higher than that in the non-IPF group without a significant difference (13.5% vs. 4.6%; p = 0.123). Median HLOS was 5 days in both groups without a significant difference (p = 0.078). The 1-year and 3-year OS were 85.2%/51.6% in the IPF group, and 97.5%/86.4% in the non-IPF group. The survival of patients with IPF was significantly poorer than the survival of patients without IPF (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference for PFS (p = 0.271). MWA was feasible in the treatment of stage I NSCLC in patients with IPF. IPF had an adverse effect on the survival of stage I NSCLC treated with MWA. CT-guided microwave ablation is a well-tolerated and effective potential alternative treatment for stage I non-small cell lung cancer in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.