Table 1 Types of thermal-energy-based treatment

Radiotherapy

Higher temp (so-called local thermotherapy)

Lower temperature

Chemical ablation, embolization

Chemo-, targeted, hormone, immuno-therapy

Ablation (> 50 ℃ or 800 V/cm)

Hyperthermia (2–5 V/cm or 41 ~ 45℃)

Cryo-ablation (− 20 to − 40℃)

[Noninvasive]

[Noninvasive]

(LA, HIFU)

[Mini-invasive]

(IRE,RF, MW)

[Noninvasive]

(Electro-field)

[Mini-invasive]

(MNPs)

[Mini-invasive]

[Mini-invasive]

(LA) < 100 μm size,800–1100 nm, 25 W;

(HIFU) 1–5/20 MHz, 1,000 ~ 10,000 W/cm²

(IRE)3000 V,50A, 250/500 kHz;

(RF)350–500 kHz

(MW)900–2500 MHz

13.56 MHz, 40 W-150 W, 60/80 min. for several times

0.02 − 1.1 MHz, 2–20 kAm⁻¹, tens of minutes

 − 140 ℃/ − 190 ℃, double freeze–thaw cycles (13–35 min.)

•  Many side effects

•  Combination with thermo-therapies

[5]

•  Surface or shallow depth

•  Limited treatment size/time (LA: 2 cm for 10 min; HIFU: 3.5 cm)

[6, 7]

•  Several hours wait for IRE impact

•  Limited treatment size (< 3 cm) /time

[8,9,10,11,12,13,14]

•  Limited tumor specificity

•  Combination with chemo/ radiotherapies

[15,16,17]

•  Limited to the regions without spreading away

•  Applied fields with healthy-risk specifics against 200 kHz or 5.0 × 10⁹ am⁻¹ s⁻¹

[18,19,20,21]

•  The inability to control hemorrhage without intra-arterial access [22, 23]

•  The inability to control position

•  Limited treatment effect

•  Combination with thermo-therapies

[3, 4]

•  Systematic treatment

•  Large individual difference

•  Induced/enhanced by thermo-therapies

[2, 3]