Microwave ablation (MWA) is an effective minimally invasive technique for lung tumours. We aim to evaluate its role for pulmonary oligorecurrence after radical surgery of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

From June 2012 to Jan 2020, a total of 103 patients with pulmonary oligorecurrence after previous radical surgical resection of NSCLC were retrospectively analysed. The primary endpoint was postoperative progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints were postoperative overall survival (OS), patterns of failure, complications and predictive factors associated with prognosis.

Of the 103 patients identified, 135 pulmonary oligorecurrences developed at a median interval of 34.8 months. In total, 143 sessions of MWA were performed to ablate all the nodules. The median PFS and OS were 15.1 months and 40.6 months, respectively. After MWA, 15 (14.6%) patients had local recurrence as the first event, while intrathoracic oligorecurrence and distant metastases were observed in 45 (43.7%) and 20 (19.4%) patients, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, local recurrence and intrathoracic oligorecurrence were not significant predictors for OS (P = 0.23 and 0.26, respectively). However, distant metastasis was predictive of OS (HR = 5.37, 95% CI, 1.04-27.84, P = 0.04).

MWA should be considered to be an effective and safe treatment option for selected patients with pulmonary oligorecurrence after NSCLC radical surgical resection.