| At its most basic, tumor ablation is a method of destroying a tumor without major surgery. A needle electrode inserted inside the tumor produces either extreme heat or extreme cold, which destroys the tumor from the inside out. The treatment is focused on a very small area, so only the tumor itself is affected. Your doctor may also choose to treat a small margin of tissue around the tumor to prevent a recurrence. The majority of healthy tissue in the organ is unharmed. Because RFA is the most common method of destroying tumors, we'll look at the equipment and procedure for this method. |
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Who Can Benefit from RFA • The patient profile RFA and other forms of tumor ablation are safe for patients who may not be viable candidates for surgery. For example, patients who cannot undergo surgery because they face an increased risk of bleeding can safely use RFA. It is minimally invasive, and the use of heat actually decreases the risk of bleeding because the heat cauterizes nearby blood vessels. Patients who are too frail for major surgery can also benefit from RFA and other ablative methods. • Inoperable tumors Similarly, RFA can be used to treat tumors that cannot be treated with surgery. Many liver tumors, for example, are inoperable because too much healthy tissue would be destroyed in the process of removing the tumor and not enough healthy tissue would be left to allow continuing function of the liver. But RFA does not harm the healthy tissue surrounding the tumor, so it can successfully treat tumors that cannot be reached with surgery. Location of Tumors RFA is FDA-approved for treatment of liver tumors, and it is being successfully used to treat tumors in the kidney, breast, bone, lung, lymph nodes, nerve ganglia, and soft tissue. Size of Tumors RFA is most successful at eliminating tumors that are between 0.5 and 3 centimeters in size. RFA can also be used to de-bulk larger tumors, making them more susceptible to other treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Number of Tumors RFA has been most successful in treating three or fewer tumors per organ. The procedure can be used to treat more tumors in a site, but survivability rates are lower. Pain Management Finally, RFA can be used to reduce or eliminate painful metastatic bone tumors that cannot be treated with other methods. In this case, RFA is used for pain management, not to eliminate the original cancer causing the bone tumors. |
