BackgroundA retrospective evaluation of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in medically inoperable patients with clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MethodsBetween 2008 and 2014, 29 medically inoperable patients with clinical stage I NSCLC underwent percutaneous RFA. We evaluated the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness. ResultsThere were 18 men and 11 women with a median age of 78.0 years (range 56-85), mean 76.0 years. No procedure-related deaths occurred in any of the 33 ablation procedures. The mean follow-up was 25 months. The incidence of local tumor progression was 21.0% at 25 months of median time to progression after the initial RFA. The mean overall survival (OS) was 57 months (95% confidence interval (CI) 44-70 months). The mean cancer-specific survival CSS was 63 months (95% CI 50-75 months). OS was 90.5% 6.4% at one year, 76.4% +/- 10.7% at two, and 65.5% +/- 13.6% at three years. CSS was 95.2% +/- 4.6% at one, 86.6% +/- 9.3% at two, and 74.2% +/- 13.9% at three years in all patients. The survival for stage IA and IB cancers were 87.5% and 92.3% at one, 87.5% and 73.4% at two, and 87.5% and 58.7% at three years, respectively. Survival rates were not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.596), with mean survival times of 65 (95% CI: 51-79 months) and 55 months (95% CI: 38-71 months), respectively. ConclusionPercutaneous RFA is a safe, feasible, and effective procedure in medically inoperable clinical stage I NSCLC patients.