Services Offered

Thermal Ablation

Cryoablation/Radiofrequency Ablation of Tumors: Ablative therapies destroy tumors by achieving extreme temperatures after the tumor is punctured with one or more needles under computed tomographic (CT), ultrasound (US), or magnetic resonance (MR) guidance. Tumors are either heated by application of microwave or radiofrequency energy or frozen during cryoablation. Ablation was initially developed for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Over time, treatment of small tumors has led to 3 year survival of 67%. Given the success with this tumor, ablation has been used in other organ systems with impressive efficacy. A recent report has demonstrated 100% disease-free and metastasis-free survival using ablation to treat renal masses less than 4 cm in diameter with a median follow-up of 5 years. Patients suffering from excruciating pain from skeletal metastases can be treated with a single session of ablation. Rapid onset of relief typically occurs with significant improvement in both pain and interference of daily activities using standardized scales along with a reduction in opioid requirements. Ablation of lung tumors is another expanding area of clinical practice. Two and five year survival rates following ablation of non-small cell lung cancer of 57% and 27% have been reported.