Advanced computational approaches for bioheat transfer in minimally invasive cancer thermal therapies

Minimally invasive thermal therapies—including radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, laser interstitial thermal therapy, and high-intensity focused ultrasound—are increasingly central to the local treatment of solid tumors across multiple organ systems. The efficacy and safety of these modalities depend critically on accurate prediction of spatiotemporal temperature distributions within biologically complex tissues characterized by structural heterogeneity, vascular perfusion, and dynamic thermophysiological responses. Although classical bioheat models have provided a foundational theoretical framework, their simplifying assumptions frequently limit predictive fidelity under clinically realistic, perfusion-dominated, and high-gradient conditions. This Advanced Review synthesizes recent advances in computational bioheat transfer modeling for cancer thermal therapies, encompassing extended and non-Fourier formulations, multiphysics and multiscale frameworks, vascular-resolved and porous-media approaches, patient-specific image-based simulations, and emerging hybrid data-driven strategies. Quantitative comparisons across modeling paradigms are presented to clarify trade-offs among physiological fidelity, computational tractability, and validation maturity. Particular emphasis is placed on vascular heat transport, temperature-dependent thermophysical properties, phase transition phenomena, and thermal damage kinetics, including Arrhenius-based injury modeling. The review further examines validation hierarchies, uncertainty quantification, regulatory credibility frameworks, and the growing integration of physics-informed machine learning for real-time treatment planning and adaptive control. Collectively, these developments signal a transition toward precision, uncertainty-aware, and patient-adaptive thermal oncology, while highlighting the methodological, computational, and regulatory challenges that must be addressed to enable routine clinical translation.