Education＆ScienceEducational Articles
Educational Articles
Safety and efficacy of a novel transbronchial radiofrequency ablation system for lung tumours: One year follow-up from the first multi-centre large-scale clinical trial (BRONC-RFII)
January 2025
Authors: Changhao Zhong, Enguo Chen, Zhuquan Su, Difei Chen, Feng Wang, Xiaoping Wang, Guangnan Liu, Xiaoju Zhang, Fengming Luo, Nan Zhang, Hongwu Wang, Longyu Jin, Fa Long, Chunfang Liu, Shiman Wu, Qing Geng, Xiang Wang, Chunli Tang, Ruchong Chen, Felix J. F. Herth, Jiayuan Sun, Shiyue Li
Comment by Mark Lavercombe: In this study, researchers used transbronchial radiofrequency ablation (RFA) with automatic saline microperfusion in patients with lung tumours deemed unsuitable for surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. One hundred twenty-six patients underwent RFA on 130 lesions less than 3 centimetres in size that were accessible bronchoscopically, and 22 of those patients required a further RFA treatment at three months. After twelve months of follow-up, a complete ablation rate of 90% was achieved, which was even higher in patients with mixed density or pure ground glass lesions (97%). Although the authors considered the procedure relatively safe, one patient died of massive haemoptysis after the procedure. Further studies will be required to clarify the potential role of transbronchial RFA within the treatment armamentarium.
Medical Education Editor for Respirology
Dr Mark Lavercombe was appointed in this specialist editor role in 2021 to further expand and strengthen Respirology’s contribution to medical education.
Located in Melbourne, Australia, he works as a clinician in respiratory health and sleep disorders at Western Health and is affiliated with The University of Melbourne as a distinguished expert in medical education.
He became a member of our Editorial Board in 2016 with the responsibility of selecting new Respirology publications with educational value, which has grown into a curated article selection featured on this page, as a benefit to APSR members.
Dr Lavercombe also authors a column in Respirology on his most recent choices and their specific value to continued medical education for our readers around the world.
