ABSTRACT
Image-guided tumor ablation is a rapidly expanding field. Fifteen years ago there were a handful of pioneering centers; today hundreds of centers are practicing tumor ablation. Technical innovations and new applications are frequently reported with several hundred papers published annually. While it is accepted that ablation can be an effective therapy, there are still several unanswered questions and techniques are constantly being refined. It is still difficult to achieve large (>5 cm) areas of confluent necrosis and further modifications are needed. The optimal relationship between local ablation and systemic therapy is not known. Patient selection and the role of ablation relative to other therapies need to be studied.
