What to choose as radical local treatment for lung metastases from colo-rectal cancer: surgery or radiofrequency ablation?

BACKGROUND

Long-term survival can be obtained with local treatment of lung metastases from colorectal cancer. However, it is unclear as to what the optimal local therapy is: surgery, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) or stereotactic radiotherapy (SBRT).

METHODS

A systematic review included 27 studies matching with the a priori selection criteria, the most important being ≥50 patients and a follow-up period of ≥24months. No SBRT studies were eligible. The review was therefore conducted on 4 RFA and 23 surgical series.

RESULTS

Four of the surgical studies were prospective, all others were retrospective. No randomized trial was found. The reporting of data differed between the studies, which led to difficulties in the analyses. Treatment-related mortality rates for RFA and surgery were 0% and 1.4-2.4%, respectively, whereas morbidity rates were reported inconsistently but seemed the lowest for surgery.

CONCLUSION

Due to the lack of phase III trials, no firm conclusions can be drawn, although most evidence supports surgery as the most effective treatment option. High-quality trials comparing currently used treatment modalities such as SBRT, RFA and surgery are needed to inform treatment decisions.