Percutaneous Cryoablation: Non-invasive Alternative to Kidney Tumor Surgery

Filed in archive Treatment on May 2, 2006

There is a relatively non-invasive technique that destroys tumors by freezing it: called percutaneous cryoablation is a safe method for treating tumors in patients who were not considered for surgery. At least that's what the new study done by a research team at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

Out of 59 cases, the researchers found that using percutaneous (through the skin) cryoablation treated the kidney tumors in 57.

The traditional treatment for kidney tumors is surgery, the major drawback being its invasiveness.

In contrast, percutaneous cryoablation is performed through small nicks in the skin, and the patient is dismissed from the hospital within 24 hours with a few band-aids," said Thomas Atwell, MD, one of the authors of the study.

Percutaneous cryoablation is performed while the patient is under general anesthesia. Using real-time ultrasound for guidance, one or more cryoprobes are placed through the skin into the kidney tumor. The tumor is then frozen over the course of about 30 minutes.

"We can literally watch the evolving ice-ball grow from the cryoprobes and encompass the tumor. The freezing temperatures destroy the tumor cells and, based on short-term follow-up, results in complete destruction of the tumor in over 95% of cases," said Dr. Atwell.

The researchers warned however that not all tumors are agreeable to cyoablation, usually when the tumor lies too close to critical abdominal organs that could be injured by the ice-ball or because of the tumor's size. In this particular study, the researchers were able to treat tumors up to 7 cm in size by cryoablation.

Find out if percutaneous cryoablation is the procedure for you.

Read more at ARRS.