Background

Although surgical resection for early stage lung cancer is the mainstay of treatment, many patients are inoperable at the time of presentation due to either disseminated disease or medical comorbidities (1). Novel strategies are currently being developed to treat early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in this expanding population of high-risk and inoperable patients. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) modifies traditional radiation techniques to provide a high-dose per fraction of radiation to the tumor which is administered over a few fractions. This allows for effective tumor ablation with preservation of the surrounding tissue due to steep dose gradients. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) utilizes CT-guided placement of a radiofrequency-emitting probe. As frictional heat energy from the probe is transferred to the tumor, cancer cells undergo coagulation necrosis