Ablation of pulmonary malignancy: current status.

Since the first reported use of radiofrequency ablation of the lung in 2000, the field of image-guided lung ablation has received a considerable amount of attention. Survival studies have demonstrated the potential utility of thermal ablation in the treatment of patients with early-stage primary and limited secondary pulmonary tumors with promising results. Diagnostic imaging studies have advanced the understanding of the expected immediate postablation appearance of treated lesions, leading the way for early detection of local tumor progression. These survival studies and the expected imaging follow-up of these patients are reviewed herein.