Single Lung Tumors Respond to Radiofrequency Ablation

HealthDay News - Pulmonary radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a safe and effective treatment option for lung tumors in patients with a single lung, according to a study published in the February issue of Radiology.

Agathe Hess, M.D., from the Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France, and colleagues collected data from single-lung patients from four institutions between 2003 and 2009 who had undergone pneumonectomy for primary or secondary lung tumors. Each had between one and three tumors in their remaining lung and each was treated with 16 RF ablation sessions. Treatment efficacy was measured by computed tomography (CT) or positron emission tomography/CT at regular intervals for up to 24 months.

The investigators found that no deaths resulted from the procedure. Mild parenchymal hemorrhages occurred as a result of the procedure in five patients, and six patients had pneumothoraces, which resolved following insertion of chest tubes. One case of pulmonary infection and two cases of limited hemoptysis occurred after the procedure. All RF ablation sessions except one were successful at completely removing the tumor. Cancer-specific survival was 100 percent at two years; whereas, overall survival rate was 71.4 percent. Survival without tumors was 58.7 percent at one year and 19.6 percent at two years.

"RF ablation is a safe therapeutic option with promising results, when applied in a highly selective group of single-lung patients with isolated primary or secondary lung tumors, and when performed by experienced operators under specific conditions," the authors write.

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