Imaging-guided radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of tumors: its current status and progress

Imaging-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a safe and minimally-invasive interventional therapy with satisfactory short-term efficacy and less complications. Nowadays, RFA has been widely and successfully applied in the clinical practice for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinomas, lung cancers, adrenal malignancies, bone tumors and hypersplenism. For recent years, a combination of RFA with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, chemical ablation or percutaneous vertebroplasty has become a new interventional therapeutic pattern for treating the tumors comprehensively, and it can be anticipated that by combining RFA with other therapeutic programs the effectiveness for tumors will be further improved . (authors)