{ "abstract": "Purpose: We assessed the safety and efficacy of magnetic resonance (MR)-guided microwave ablation for treating hepatic malignancies. Methods: This retrospective single-center review evaluated patients who underwent MR-guided microwave ablation for hepatic malignancies between 02/15/2017–04/22/2020. Complications were classified following CIRSE guidelines. Local tumor progression (LTP), local tumor recurrence (LTR), non-target progression (NTP), progression-free survival (PFS) and time to progression (TTP) were assessed, with data presented as mean ± standard deviation. Results: Sixteen patients (60.75 ± 14.4 years; 9 males, 7 females) underwent 17 MR-guided microwave ablation for 21 hepatic malignancies (17 (81.0%) hepatocellular carcinoma, 1 (4.8%) cholangiocarcinoma, 2 (9.5%) metastases, and 1 (4.8%) suspicious lesion in a patient with primary sclerosing cholangitis). Lesion size was 12.2 ± 4.8 mm and total procedure time 138 ± 53 minutes. Complications included fever (N = 2), abdominal pain (N = 2), biloma (N = 1), and reactive cholecystitis (N = 1). These resolved with pain medication for one patient and antibiotics for another. No tumor recurrence was observed at ablation sites (LTP and LTR = 0%) at 36.7 ± 28.2 months. NTP occurred in 11 patients (68.8%) with a TTP of 14.8 ± 11.4 months. PFS was 44 months (95% CI: 10–85 months). Three patients died during follow-up — one from complications after liver transplantation and two from disease progression. Post-ablation liver transplantation was performed in two patients. Conclusion: MR-guided microwave ablation for hepatic malignancies is safe and effective, with no local tumor recurrences noted over a follow-up period of 36.7 ± 28.2 months. Clinical significance: MR-guided microwave ablation is a promising minimally invasive treatment for hepatic malignancies, demonstrating no LTR at 36.7 ± 28.2 months. Precise, radiation-free needle placement in real-time and effective targeting of small tumors may further improve future patient care.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.", "STIMULATE-Solution Centre for Image Guided Local Therapies, Magdeburg, Germany.", "Division of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America." ], "article_type": "Research Article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 8, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0, 1 ], "name": "Daniel Markus Düx", "orcid": "0000-0003-3978-4458" }, { "affs": [ 0, 1 ], "name": "Marcel Gutberlet" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Julian Glandorf" }, { "affs": [ 0, 1 ], "name": "Simon Schröer" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Kristina Imeen Ringe" }, { "affs": [ 0, 1 ], "name": "Frank Wacker", "orcid": "0000-0002-6285-8403" }, { "affs": [ 0, 1 ], "name": "Bennet Hensen", "orcid": "0000-0001-6966-273X" }, { "affs": [ 0, 2 ], "name": "Lena Becker", "orcid": "0000-0001-9568-6233" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9f7fpnvhkhpgf.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0322917", "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13704846", "id": "9f7fpnvhkhpgf", "issns": [ "1932-6203" ], "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322917", "language": "eng", "licence": "CC-BY", "licence_label": "CC BY", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "openalex", "2721|Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Clinical medicine/Clinical oncology/Surgical oncology" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Clinical medicine/Signs and symptoms/Lesions" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Diagnostic medicine/Diagnostic radiology/Magnetic resonance imaging" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Gastroenterology and hepatology/Liver diseases/Hepatocellular carcinoma" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Oncology/Basic cancer research/Metastasis" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Oncology/Cancer treatment" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Oncology/Cancer treatment/Surgical oncology" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Oncology/Cancers and neoplasms/Carcinoma/Hepatocellular carcinoma" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Oncology/Cancers and neoplasms/Colorectal cancer" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Oncology/Cancers and neoplasms/Gastrointestinal tumors/Hepatocellular carcinoma" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Oncology/Clinical oncology/Surgical oncology" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Oncology/Metastasis" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Radiology and imaging/Diagnostic radiology/Magnetic resonance imaging" ], [ "plos", "/Physical sciences/Physics/Electromagnetic radiation/Microwave radiation" ], [ "plos", "/Research and analysis methods/Imaging techniques/Diagnostic radiology/Magnetic resonance imaging" ] ], "openalex": "W7223667879", "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13704846?pdf=render", "pmcid": "PMC13704846", "pmid": "42932317", "published": "2026-10-26", "publisher": "Public Library of Science", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9f7fpnvhkhpgf.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:17Z", "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0322917", "source": "plos", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322917" }, { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:01Z", "native_id": "MED:42932317", "source": "europepmc", "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42932317" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "medicine", "origin": "plos:oncology", "subfield": "oncology" } ], "title": "MRI-guided microwave ablation of hepatic malignancies: 4-year institutional outcomes", "title_text": "MRI-guided microwave ablation of hepatic malignancies: 4-year institutional outcomes", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:01Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9f7fpnvhkhpgf", "venue": "PLOS One", "versions": [] }