Image-guided ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Image-guided ablation is accepted as the best therapeutic choice for patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) when surgical options-including resection and transplantation-are precluded. The term image-guided tumor ablation is defined as the direct application of chemical substances or sources of energy to a focal tumor in an attempt to achieve eradication or substantial tumor destruction. Over the past 25 years, several methods for local tumor destruction have been developed and clinically tested. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has shown superior anticancer effect and greater survival benefit with respect to the seminal percutaneous technique, ethanol injection, in meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials, and is currently established as the standard ablative modality. Nevertheless, novel thermal and nonthermal techniques for tumor ablation-including microwave ablation and irreversible electroporation-seem to have potential to improve the efficacy of RFA and are currently undergoing clinical investigation.