Wang YY, Zhang CP, Zhang QB, Le XY, Feng JB, Li CM. Future directions of image-guided thermal ablation in colorectal cancer lung oligometastases. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(2): 114727 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i2.114727]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Chuan-Ming Li, MD, Professor, Department of Medical Imaging, Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, Chongqing University Central Hospital, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, No. 1 Jiankang Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China. lichuanming@hospital.cqmu.edu.cn
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Oncology
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Letter to the Editor
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Jan 14, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 12, 2026
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World Journal of Gastroenterology
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1007-9327
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Wang YY, Zhang CP, Zhang QB, Le XY, Feng JB, Li CM. Future directions of image-guided thermal ablation in colorectal cancer lung oligometastases. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(2): 114727 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i2.114727]
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 14, 2026; 32(2): 114727 Published online Jan 14, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i2.114727
Future directions of image-guided thermal ablation in colorectal cancer lung oligometastases
Yu-Yin Wang, Cui-Ping Zhang, Qing-Biao Zhang, Xing-Yan Le, Jun-Bang Feng, Chuan-Ming Li
Yu-Yin Wang, Qing-Biao Zhang, Xing-Yan Le, Jun-Bang Feng, Chuan-Ming Li, Department of Medical Imaging, Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, Chongqing University Central Hospital, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400014, China
Cui-Ping Zhang, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, Chongqing University Central Hospital, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400014, China
Co-first authors: Yu-Yin Wang and Cui-Ping Zhang.
Co-corresponding authors: Jun-Bang Feng and Chuan-Ming Li.
Author contributions: Wang YY and Zhang CP designed the letter, reviewed and edited the main document, and contributed equally to this study as co-first authors; Zhang QB, Le XY, Feng JB, and Li CM collected the data; Feng JB and Li CM made equal contributions as co-corresponding authors; all the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chuan-Ming Li, MD, Professor, Department of Medical Imaging, Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, Chongqing University Central Hospital, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, No. 1 Jiankang Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China. lichuanming@hospital.cqmu.edu.cn
Received: September 27, 2025 Revised: October 27, 2025 Accepted: December 2, 2025 Published online: January 14, 2026 Processing time: 106 Days and 23.5 Hours
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) with lung oligometastases, particularly in the presence of extrapulmonary disease, poses considerable therapeutic challenges in clinical practice. We have carefully studied the multicenter study by Hu et al, which evaluated the survival outcomes of patients with metastatic CRC who received image-guided thermal ablation (IGTA). These findings provide valuable clinical evidence supporting IGTA as a feasible, minimally invasive approach and underscore the prognostic significance of metastatic distribution. However, the study by Hu et al has several limitations, including that not all pulmonary lesions were pathologically confirmed, postoperative follow-up mainly relied on dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography, no comparative analysis was performed with other local treatments, and the impact of other imaging features on efficacy and prognosis was not evaluated. Future studies should include complete pathological confirmation, integrate functional imaging and radiomics, and use prospective multicenter collaboration to optimize patient selection standards for IGTA treatment, strengthen its clinical evidence base, and ultimately promote individualized decision-making for patients with metastatic CRC.
Core Tip: Colorectal cancer with lung oligometastases, especially when accompanied by extrapulmonary lesions, remains a major therapeutic challenge. Image-guided thermal ablation is a potentially effective minimally invasive local therapy, but current practice has several limitations: The absence of pathological confirmation for some metastatic sites, follow-up dependency on dynamic contrast-enhanced-computed tomography and vulnerability to inflammatory interference, a lack of control groups receiving other standard local treatments, and small sample sizes in certain subgroups. Future studies should improve pathological sampling, incorporate functional imaging, such as fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography, and increase the sample size to provide more reliable evidence for individualized therapy.
