Minimally invasive techniques for medically inoperable stage i non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) - Image-guided microwave ablation, a promising therapy option

摘要

We are pleased to see the level of interest aroused by our article 'High-powered percutaneous microwave ablation of stage I medically inoperable non-small cell lung cancer: A preliminary study'.1 Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the letter to the editor by the Liverpool team, entitled 'Minimally invasive techniques for medically inoperable stage I non-small cell lung cancer: Radiotherapy is still the gold standard'. Wisnivesky et al? assessed the outcome of 4357 stage I and II NSCLC patients, 88% of whom were stage I patients, who were not surgical candidates and received either conventional radiotherapy or observation only. In the two groups, the median survival time for patients with stage I disease differed by 7 months, and for stage II disease by 5 months with no survival difference at 5 years (11% vs. 10%).