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 Gastrointest Oncol. Oct 15, 2026; 18(10): 123172
Published online Oct 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123172
Published online Oct 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123172
Letter to the Editor: Multibipolar radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma - a superior thermal ablation technique or a reflection of operator excellence?
Shi-Qiong Zhou, Qing-Hua Ke, Department of Chemoradiotherapy, Jingzhou First People’s Hospital, Jingzhou 434000, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Ke QH and Zhou SQ contributed to conceptualization, writing-original draft, review and editing, supervision.
AI contribution statement: Limited auxiliary AI tools were used only for basic grammatical correction and linguistic refinement. No large language models such as ChatGPT, DeepL were applied for full-text writing or content creation. No part of the main text, including Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion, was fully or partially AI-generated. All core academic content was independently written by the authors. Individual AI tools were used merely for minor language polishing and grammatical adjustment to improve readability. No AI-based translation, data analysis or manuscript drafting assistance was involved.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Qing-Hua Ke, PhD, Chief Physician, Department of Chemoradiotherapy, Jingzhou First People’s Hospital, No. 10 Tianhu Road, Shashi District, Jingzhou 434000, Hubei Province, China. 3803354759@qq.com
Received: May 12, 2026
Revised: July 6, 2026
Accepted: July 16, 2026
Published online: October 15, 2026
Processing time: 130 Days and 8.8 Hours
Revised: July 6, 2026
Accepted: July 16, 2026
Published online: October 15, 2026
Processing time: 130 Days and 8.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: The study by Bahloul et al suggests that multibipolar radiofrequency ablation may achieve better local control than microwave ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma, particularly in tumors ≥ 3 cm. However, significant confounders, such as operator experience and institutional variation, limit causal interpretation. Rather than confirming technical superiority, these findings underscore the importance of procedural expertise, tumor biology, and ablation precision. Future research should focus on randomized trials, peritumoral tissue characterization, and standardized quality metrics to guide personalized treatment selection.