Ablative Approaches for Pulmonary Metastases

Thorac Surg Clin. 2016 Feb;26(1):19-34. doi: 10.1016/j.thorsurg.2015.09.004.

Abstract

Pulmonary metastases are common in patients with cancer for which surgery is considered a standard approach in appropriately selected patients. A number of patients are not candidates for surgery due to a medical comorbidities or the extent of surgery required. For these patients, noninvasive or minimally invasive approaches to ablate pulmonary metastases are potential treatment strategies. This article summarizes the rationale and outcomes for non-surgical treatment approaches, including radiotherapy, radiofrequency and microwave ablation, for pulmonary metastases.

Keywords: Ablative therapy; Oligometastases; Pulmonary metastases; Radiotherapy.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Catheter Ablation / methods*
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Lung Neoplasms / surgery*
  • Metastasectomy / methods*
  • Neoplasm Metastasis