Guest guest Posted June 27, 2001 Report Share Posted June 27, 2001 Hi, Previously we looked at injecting harmless things like ethanol or salt water into tumors to kill them quickly and safely, with a high degree of success. It was also shown that placing a probe in the thumor and giving it a small electric curren killed the tumor. It is now shown that we can do the same with radio waves. Immune therapy would be an ideal adjunst for use with the above methods to prevent metastasis, or spreading of secondary tumors. Source: Radiology 2001 Jul;220(1):145-9 Percutaneous radio-frequency ablation of liver metastases from breast cancer: initial experience in 24 patients. Livraghi T, Goldberg SN, Solbiati L, Meloni F, Ierace T, Gazelle GS. Department of Radiology, Ospedale Civile, Vimercate, Italy (T.L., F.M.). PURPOSE: To evaluate the authors' initial experience in a consecutive series of 24 patients with breast cancer liver metastases treated with radio-frequency (RF) ablation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four consecutive patients with 64 metastases measuring 1.0-6.6 cm in diameter (mean, 1.9 cm) underwent ultrasonography-guided percutaneous RF ablation with 18-gauge, internally cooled electrodes. Treatment was performed with the patient under conscious sedation and analgesia or general anesthesia. A single lesion was treated in 16 patients, and multiple lesions were treated in eight patients. Follow-up with serial computed tomography ranged from 4 to 44 months (mean, 10 months; median, 19 months). RESULTS: Complete necrosis was achieved in 59 (92%) of 64 lesions. Among the 59 lesions, complete necrosis required a single treatment session in 58 lesions (92%) and two treatment sessions in one lesion (2%). In 14 (58%) of 24 patients, new metastases developed during follow-up. Ten (71%) of these 14 patients developed new liver metastases. Currently, 10 (63%) of 16 patients whose lesions were initially confined to the liver are free of disease. One patient died of progressive brain metastases. No major complications occurred. Two minor complications were observed. CONCLUSION: On the basis of preliminary study results, percutaneous RF ablation appears to be a simple, safe, and effective treatment for focal liver metastases in selected patients with breast cancer. PMID: 11425987 [PubMed - in process] moonbeam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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