Cryoablation continues to show good results for kidney cancer patients

November 25, 2007

A review of 62 Mayo Clinic patients who underwent cryoablation to treat cancerous kidney tumors shows that the patients are cancer free for up to two and a half years after having had the procedure.

Also called cryotherapy or cryosurgery, cryoablation is a procedure in which extreme cold is applied to the tumor using a cryoprobe, a hollow needle-like device filled with argon gas. The gas rapidly freezes the targeted tumor.

As this study and others continue to show, cryoablation appears to be an effective treatment for cancerous kidney tumors. But researchers caution that at this time, it be used only for patients who are not candidates for surgery, because follow-up studies are needed before the procedure can be widely applied, states Thomas Atwell, M.D., a Mayo Clinic radiologist and the study's primary investigator.

Dr. Atwell will present these findings on Sunday, Nov. 25 at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.

“This procedure appears to be a good option for some patients,” he says. The general criteria for cryoablation includes the size and appearance of the tumor and the number of lesions in the kidney.

In this study, 89 of 91 tumors were effectively treated in a single treatment session. Patients had tumors that ranged in size from 1.5 centimeters (cm) to 7.3 cm. The average size was 3.4 cm. Follow-up evaluations ranging from three months to two and a half years were available for 62 patients -- all whom remain cancer free at last report.

The standard treatment for kidney tumors is surgery, which is highly effective. For patients who undergo surgery, the hospital stay and recovery period are longer as compared to patients treated with cryoablation. Patients who undergo cryoablation will have small ¼ inch incision where the cryoprobe is inserted. The mark is covered with a bandage and recovery usually amounts to one day in hospital, as compared to several days for patients who undergo surgery.

Source: Mayo Clinic

4.7 /5 (6 votes)  

Rank 4.7 /5 (6 votes)
Tags

Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Exercise and weight loss
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
    createdFeb 07, 2012
  • "The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Oncolytic adenovirus
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Nutrition label stuffs and diets
    createdFeb 02, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

New ability to regrow blood vessels holds promise for treatment of heart disease

(Medical Xpress) -- University of Texas at Austin researchers have demonstrated a new and more effective method for regrowing blood vessels in the heart and limbs — a research advancement that could have ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created 27 minutes ago | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New tumor suppressor gene identified

A recent study published in Clinical Cancer Research suggests that the protein hVps37A suppresses tumor growth in ovarian cancer. The work, which was funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, shows, for th ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created 1 hour ago | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Motivation to exercise affects behavior

(Medical Xpress) -- For many people, the motivation to exercise fluctuates from week to week, and these fluctuations predict whether they will be physically active, according to researchers at Penn State. In an effort to ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created 17 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'It's not nutritious until it's eaten'

As part of her "Let's Move! Initiative," First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled a new web resource highlighting new changes in the Chefs Move to Schools, during a CMST gathering in Dallas, TX today. CMTS advocates ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created 4 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Packard Children's has smallest child yet to get pacemaker

Jaya Maharaj was 15 minutes old when she was sent to surgery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and given a pacemaker that saved her life. The tiny girl — born nine weeks early, weighing 3.5 pounds, ...

Medicine & Health / Cardiology

created 56 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Fast photon control brings quantum photonic technologies closer

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using photons instead of electrons to transmit information could lead to faster and more secure ways to communicate, among other advantages. Now a team of physicists has taken another step toward realizing ...

Transforming galaxies

(PhysOrg.com) -- Many of the Universe's galaxies are like our own, displaying beautiful spiral arms wrapping around a bright nucleus. Examples in this stunning image, taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on ...

'Smart' microcapsules in a single step

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new, single-step method of fabricating microcapsules, which have potential commercial applications in industries including medicine, agriculture and diagnostics, has been developed by researchers ...

A continent ablaze in auroral and manmade light

The North American continent is literally set ablaze in a confluence of Auroral and Manmade light captured in spectacular new videos snapped by the astronauts serving aboard the International Space Station ...

Nanostructured electrodes for rechargeable sodium-Ion batteries

Highly efficient 3V cathodes for rechargeable sodium-ion batteries have been developed by users from Argonne National Laboratory's Materials Science, Chemical Sciences & Engineering, and X-ray Sciences Divisions, ...

A lost world? How zooarchaeology can inform biodiversity conservation

A new study of tropical forests will provide a 50,000-year perspective on how animal biodiversity has changed, explored through an archaeological investigation of animal bones.