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A needle is placed directly into a tumour under imaging guidance and treatment is delivered to destroy or reduce the tumour. Treatment may involve heating or cooling, or in difficult tumour locations, injection of alcohol or acetic acid or electricity. The procedure may be used as an alternative to surgery with curative intent when surgery is considered too high risk, for palliation, or for selected benign bone tumours and small primary liver cancers. Preparation may include ultrasound, CT or MRI assessment, blood tests, bringing available scans to appointments, and fasting from food and fluid for 6 hours before the procedure. It may be performed under general anaesthetic or deep sedation. Recovery is usually rapid, with patients normally able to walk and eat on the night of the procedure and go home the next day. Avoid heavy lifting and strenuous activity for the rest of the treatment week. Follow-up imaging and specialist visits are required, with a CT scan or less commonly an MRI scan approximately 1 month after treatment.