Cancer Management and Research (Dec 2020)
Thermal Ablation for Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma: How Far We Have Come?
Abstract
Yu Min, Xing Wang, Hang Chen, Jialin Chen, Ke Xiang, Guobing Yin Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 404100, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Guobing YinDepartment of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No. 74, Linjiang Road, Yuzhong Dist, Chongqing 404100, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 15823267119Email [email protected]: Thermal ablation (TA), as one of the most currently remarkable technologies, has achieved great success in many malignant diseases including but not limited to hepatic and renal carcinoma. In recent years, this technology was gradually introduced to the treatment of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) and even papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Thereby, we summarized the current progress of TA development in the treatment of PTMC.Methods: The latest relevant literature from the PubMed database with keywords “thermal ablation”, “papillary thyroid microcarcinoma”, “microwave ablation”, “radio-frequency ablation”, and “laser ablation”, among others, were comprehensively reviewed in this article. The follow-up outcomes of patients in these articles were analyzed.Results: The efficacy and safety of TA including microwave ablation (MWA), laser ablation (LA), and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the treatment of PTC and PTC have been intensively studied. Based on existing clinical trials, the relatively long-term follow-up (range, from 6 to 64.2 months) results in MWA, LA, and RFA were satisfactory that tumor volume reduction rate (VRR) reached and even surpass 99%. Compared with routine surgery methods (total thyroidectomy and lobectomy), the incidence rate of complications was relatively lower and the recurrence rate of TA techniques was not statistically significant, whereas the operative time, blood loss, length of hospital stay, and hospital cost were significantly decreased.Conclusion: TA presents the same satisfactory therapeutic effects but minimal postoperative trauma can significantly improve the patients’ quality of life. However, future larger sample, multicenter, and prospective randomized controlled trials are urgently needed to validate the feasibility of TA in dealing with PTMC.Keywords: thermal ablation, microwave ablation, laser ablation, radiofrequency ablation, papillary thyroid microcarcinoma
