CAMC Interventional Radiology has introduced cryoablation, a new minimally invasive procedure to treat cancer through a needle.
Amy Deipolyi, MD, PhD, FSIR, Director of CAMC Interventional Radiology, recently performed CAMC's first CT-guided cryoablation and cementoplasty for a painful bone metastasis that had prevented the patient from walking. The team is proud to offer minimally invasive procedures to fight cancer and help reduce patients' pain.
Cryoablation uses extreme cold to destroy cancerous tissue. For many patients with smaller cancerous masses involving the kidney or lungs, cryoablation can yield excellent results.
Compared to more common methods of treatment like surgery, cryoablation is significantly less invasive and has been shown to effectively destroy targeted tissues while maintaining the patient’s quality of life.
During the procedure, the patient is placed under anesthesia, and one or more needles are inserted through the skin into the tumor. Ice is created at the needle tip by delivering argon gas under pressure through the needle shaft. The size and shape of the ice ball is controlled by the physician, who can closely monitor the ice zone under imaging technology.
Cryoablation can also be used to palliate painful bone metastases. Treatment provides pain relief in less than one week. Cryoablation can be combined with cementoplasty, whereby small volumes of medical cement are injected through the ablation needles into the tumor after ablation. This provides stability to the bone and can help patients bear weight on affected bones.
