Hepatic tumor RFA can be performed with low mortality and morbidity rates. Though relatively rare, late complications can develop and physicians performing hepatic RFA must be cognizant of these delayed treatment-related problems.

Elimination of all detectable plasma arginine in patients with HCC was well tolerated and seemed to be effective in the treatment of some patients with HCC. Further testing of ADI-SS PEG 20,000 mw in a larger population of individuals with HCC as well as other human tumors auxotrophic for arginine is warranted.

Treatment with RFA can produce significant long-term survival rates for cirrhotic patients with early-stage, unresectable HCC. RFA can be performed in these patients with relatively low complication rates. Confirmation of these results in randomized trials should be considered.

• Textural analysis from computed tomography can be applied in gastric cancer. • Preoperative non-invasive texture features are related to prognosis in gastric cancer. • Texture analysis could help to evaluate the aggressiveness of this tumour.

No abstract

Percutaneous ablation is an increasingly applied technique for the treatment of localized renal tumors, especially for elderly or co-morbid patients, where co-morbidities increase the risk of traditional nephrectomy. Ablative techniques are technically suited for the treatment of tumors generally not exceeding 4 cm, which has been set as general consensus cutoff and is described as the upper threshold of T1a kidney tumors. This threshold cutoff is being challenged, but with still limited evidence. Percutaneous ablation techniques for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) include radiofrequency ablation, cryoablation, laser or microwave ablation; the main advantage of all these techniques over surgery is less invasiveness, lower complication rates and better patient tolerability. Currently, international guidelines recommend percutaneous ablation either as intervention for frail patients or as a first line tool, provided that the tumor can be radically ablated. The purpose of this article is to describe the basic concepts of percutaneous ablation in the treatment of RCC. Controversies concerning techniques and products and the need for patient-centered tailored approaches during selection among the different techniques available will be discussed.

SG of VAAs and VAPAs was safe and effective, particularly in elective treatments. The Viabahn stent-graft, flexible and without shape memory, is suitable for endovascular repair of tortuous visceral arteries.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) metastatic dissemination to the liver is one of the most life‐threatening malignancies in humans and represents the leading cause of CRC‐related mortality. Herein, we adopted a gene transfer strategy into mouse hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells to generate immune‐competent mice in which TEMs—a subset of Tie2+ monocytes/macrophages found at peritumoral sites—express interferon‐alpha (IFNα), a pleiotropic cytokine with anti‐tumor effects. Utilizing this strategy in mouse models of CRC liver metastasis, we show that TEMs accumulate in the proximity of hepatic metastatic areas and that TEM‐mediated delivery of IFNα inhibits tumor growth when administered prior to metastasis challenge as well as on established hepatic lesions, improving overall survival. Further analyses unveiled that local delivery of IFNα does not inhibit homing but limits the early phases of hepatic CRC cell expansion by acting on the radio‐resistant hepatic microenvironment. TEM‐mediated IFNα expression was not associated with systemic side effects, hematopoietic toxicity, or inability to respond to a virus challenge. Along with the notion that TEMs were detected in the proximity of CRC metastases in human livers, these results raise the possibility to employ similar gene/cell therapies as tumor site‐specific drug‐delivery strategies in patients with CRC.