Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 21, 2026; 32(11): 116289
Published online Mar 21, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i11.116289
Published online Mar 21, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i11.116289
Should repeat ablation be viewed as strategic rather than salvage in refractory colorectal cancer liver metastasis?
Sen Li, Zhi-Chun Wang, General Surgery Breast Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Jiujiang City Key Laboratory of Cell Therapy, JiuJiang No. 1 People’s Hospital, Jiujiang 341000, Jiangxi Province, China
Author contributions: Li S wrote the original draft; Wang ZC contributed to conceptualization, writing, reviewing and editing; all authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Corresponding author: Zhi-Chun Wang, MD, Associate Chief Physician, General Surgery Breast Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Jiujiang City Key Laboratory of Cell Therapy, JiuJiang No. 1 People’s Hospital, No. 48 Taling South Road, Jiujiang 341000, Jiangxi Province, China. mikeauthor@qq.com
Received: November 7, 2025
Revised: December 6, 2025
Accepted: January 6, 2026
Published online: March 21, 2026
Processing time: 129 Days and 18.5 Hours
Revised: December 6, 2025
Accepted: January 6, 2026
Published online: March 21, 2026
Processing time: 129 Days and 18.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Repeated radiofrequency ablation in patients with chemotherapy-refractory colorectal liver metastases can no longer be viewed solely as a salvage procedure. When guided by radiologic evidence of viable tumor enhancement and applied in a staged manner, repeat ablation may function as an active, strategy-driven modality for sustained disease control. By integrating tumor size, hepatic reserve, and absence of uncontrolled extrahepatic spread into candidate selection, repeat ablation can serve as a bridge to resection or transplantation, a consolidation method after partial systemic response, or a long-term approach to maintain quality of life.