Commentary: The Reliability of a 2-mm Minimum Margin as an Adequacy Endpoint for Colorectal Pulmonary Metastasis Ablation Success

Abstract

The investigators Hasegawa et al ( 1 Hasegawa T. Takaki H. Kodama H. et al. Impact of ablative margin on local tumor progression after radiofrequency ablation for lung metastases from colorectal carcinoma: supplementary analysis of a phase II trial (MLCSG-0802). J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2023; 34: 31-37 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Google Scholar ) are to be congratulated for identifying the ablation margin as a key technical element for thermal ablation success in tumor control in their article “Impact of Ablative Margin on Local Tumor Progression after Radiofrequency Ablation for Lung Metastases from Colorectal Carcinoma: Supplementary Analysis of a Phase II Trial.” The study evaluated 95 colorectal cancer (CRC) pulmonary metastases treated with radiofrequency (RF) ablation followed by sequential computed tomography (CT) examinations for at least 12 months after RF ablation and aimed to assess the minimum ablation margin (MM) required for better local tumor control ( 1 Hasegawa T. Takaki H. Kodama H. et al. Impact of ablative margin on local tumor progression after radiofrequency ablation for lung metastases from colorectal carcinoma: supplementary analysis of a phase II trial (MLCSG-0802). J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2023; 34: 31-37 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Google Scholar ). The MM was estimated as the shortest distance of the outer tumor boundary to the ground-glass opacity representing the ablation zone (AZ) immediately after RF ablation. Impact of the Ablative Margin on Local Tumor Progression after Radiofrequency Ablation for Lung Metastases from Colorectal Carcinoma: Supplementary Analysis of a Phase II Trial (MLCSG-0802)Journal of Vascular and Interventional RadiologyVol. 34Issue 1PreviewPulmonary oligometastatic disease is considered to be an indication for lung radiofrequency (RF) ablation when patients cannot undergo surgical treatment or external radiation therapy because of poor performance status, comorbid disease, or advanced age (1–3). In particular, the treatment outcomes of lung RF ablation for colorectal cancer (CRC) lung metastases have been well investigated, yielding satisfactory results including a 5-year disease-specific survival rate of 47%–69% and overall survival rate of 33%–68% (2–7). Full-Text PDF