Cryoablation
Cryoablation is an alternative minimally invasive procedure, showing promise with mesothelioma patients. It uses controlled freezing to dissipate small cancer tumors in a relatively safe and quick manner. With the use of a large needle, compressed argon gas is applied to the targeted tissue, killing the cells it touches.
Used adjunctively with standard therapies for mesothelioma, cryoablation can effectively improve both survival and quality of life. It can be used on surrounding small lesions in order to make a patient eligible for future surgery such as the pleurectomy / decortication (P/D) or extra-pleuralpneumonectomy (EPP) or it can be administered to localized recurrences of disease post-surgically. It can also improve the patient’s quality of life when used in a palliative manner to control the pain associated with invading tumor.
Currently only a handful of centers specialize in the use of cryoablation in the management of mesothelioma, most notably diagnostic radiologists, Dr. Fereidoun Abtin and Dr. Robert Suh at UCLA.
Additional Information:
CT Guided Percutaneous Cryoablation of Thoracic Tumors: Technical Feasibility, Early Efficacy and Imaging of 27 Treated Tumors,” 2nd World Congress of Thoracic Imaging and Diagnosis in Chest Disease, Valencia, Spain May 30 –June 2, 2009.
Conclusions: Cryoablation offers promising and potentially effective treatment of thoracic tumors for local tumor control and palliation with acceptable complication rates. More...
Hoffman, NE, Bischof, JC. “The cryobiology of cryosurgical injury,” Urology, 60 (2 Suppl 1): 40-9.
Cryosurgery, or tissue destruction by controlled freezing, has been investigated as a possible alternative to surgical intervention in the treatment of many diseases. This technique, which is under the larger category of thermal therapy, has its origins in the 1800s when advanced carcinomas of the breast and uterine cervix were treated with iced saline solutions.
Conclusions: Cryosurgery, or tissue destruction by controlled freezing, has been investigated as a possible alternative to surgical intervention in the treatment of many diseases. The main advantages of the technique are the potential for less invasiveness and lower morbidity compared with surgical excision. More...
Dr. Fereidoun Abtin: A concise summary for patients of how cryoablation can be used in the management of mesothelioma. More...
Former cryoablation patient, Dolores Luebke lost her battle with mesothelioma in September, 2009.
During a recent conversation with her husband Kurt Luebke, Kurt expressed the excitement they felt over the newer, cutting-edge treatment Dolores was offered in order to manage her reoccurrences with disease, ten months after her P/D surgery. He recalls how pleasant, informative and realistic Dr. Fereidoun Abtin was with them, “he really walked us through the whole process.” Unfortunatley, her insurance company denied paying for what they deemed experimental treatment. More...