2026 International Expert Consensus Recommendations on Image-Guided Ablation for Colorectal Liver Metastases
Abstract Image-guided ablation has emerged as a potentially curative treatment for colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRLM), yet substantial heterogeneity persists in patient selection, technical execution, and perioperative management. To establish standardized, evidence-based guidance, a multidisciplinary panel of 68 experts including image-guided interventionalists, surgeons, and oncologists conducted a systematic review of literature from 2000 to 2025 and developed consensus recommendations through a modified two-round Delphi process. Evidence was graded using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine framework, achieving at least conditional consensus (≥75% agreement) for all statements. Finally, twenty consensus recommendations were established addressing patient selection, imaging evaluation, image-guided techniques, ablation strategies, complication management, surveillance protocols, and combination therapies. This expert consensus provides a comprehensive framework for optimizing image-guided ablation as an integral component of multidisciplinary, personalized CRLM management.
Authors
- Ping Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8933-6392)
- Rui Bu
- Baoqing Jia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7006-0741)
- Franco Orsi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7330-0499)
- Haibo Shao
- Miaomiao Gou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9622-1198)
- Tianan Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7672-8394)
- David C. Madoff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3461-437X)
- Guanghai Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8986-6027)
- 胡华斌
- Ming-An Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0797-4564)
- Hui‐Xiong Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8699-854X)
- Bo Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2783-055X)
- Roberto Iezzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2791-481X)
- Weijun Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8757-647X)
- 万云乐
- Ke Lv (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8779-9860)
- Wen Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4294-9698)
- Hyunchul Rhim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9737-0248)
- Kai Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3982-494X)
- Hui Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3759-3917)
- Xiaoling Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8967-4575)
- Jeong Min Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0561-8777)
- Min Woo Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9048-9011)
- Xiaojian Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5610-2530)
- Zubang Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2650-4122)
- Luigi Solbiati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3109-1449)
- Huang Kai-Wen
- G Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5224-008X)
- Masatoshi Kudo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4102-3474)
- Ming Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5971-7303)
- Xin-Wu Cui
- 李琴颖
- Shuichiro Shiina
- XUE Gaiqin
- Xianli Zhou
- Songyuan Yu
- Fabio Piscaglia
- Jianhua Zhou
- Litao Ruan
- Alex Tang
- Christian Pállson Nolsøe
- Pintong Huang
- Yanhong Deng
- Yan Huang
- Jie Yu
- Feng Liang
- Guiying Wang
- Xiang Jing
- Qiyu Zhao
- Feng Duan
- Xiaochun Meng
- Kun Yan
- liping Liu
- Meijin Huang
- Cheng Zhao
- Jianping Wang
- Lin Jiang
- Dezhi Zhang
- Rui Cui
- Thomas J Vogl
- Weidong Pan
- Xiaohui Du
- Hong Yang
- Fred T. Lee
- Qiang Lu
- Jianming Li
- Jian Zheng
- Qian Li
Institutions
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (IT)
- Qingdao University (CN)
- Hebei Medical University (CN)
- Humanitas University (IT)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Seoul National University (KR)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Shanxi Medical University (CN)
- Jilin University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN)
- Peking University (CN)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Kunming Medical University (CN)
- West China Medical Center of Sichuan University (CN)
- China-Japan Friendship Hospital (CN)
- Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CN)
- Samsung Medical Center (KR)
- Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic (IT)
- Seoul National University Hospital (KR)
- Chinese PLA General Hospital (CN)
- Juntendo University (JP)
- Tianjin Third Central Hospital (CN)
- West China Hospital of Sichuan University (CN)
- Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Peking University Cancer Hospital (CN)
- IRCCS Azienda Ospedliero-Universitaria di Bologna Policlinico di Sant'Orsola (IT)
- Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University (CN)
- Copenhagen Academy for Medical Education and Simulation (DK)
- Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University (CN)
- Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University (CN)
- First Hospital of Jilin University (CN)
- First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University (CN)
- First Affiliated Hospital of GuangXi Medical University (CN)
- Zhongshan Hospital (CN)
- National Taiwan University Hospital (TW)
- University Hospital Frankfurt (DE)
- Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital (CN)
- Henan Cancer Hospital (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (CN)
- Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IT)
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University (CN)
- Tongji Hospital (CN)
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital (IT)
- Samsung Changwon Hospital (KR)
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Zhejiang University (CN)
- Sungkyunkwan University (KR)
- Xi'an Jiaotong University (CN)
- Kindai University (JP)
- University of Bologna (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Liver Cancer
- Published
- 2026-10-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1159/lic/admag025
- Primary Topic
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of Shanxi Province