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Wednesday, 11 March 2009- Freezing kidney tumours, using a safe minimally invasive interventional radiology treatment that kills the cancer 100% effectively without surgery, should be the gold standard or first treatment option for all individuals with tumours that are 4 centimetres in size or smaller, according to two studies presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 34th Annual Scientific Meeting.
At the meeting, which is taking place on 7-12 March, 2009, it was also reported that this treatment - interventional cryoablation - is a viable option for people with larger tutors.
"Interventional cryoablation is as effective as laparoscopic surgery (partial nephrectomy), the current gold standard treatment, and laparoscopic cryoablation surgery for treating renal cell carcinoma," said Dr. Christos Georgiades, interventional radiologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA.
"We can eliminate a cancer - that, once it metastasises, can be notoriously difficult to treat and has a low chance of cure - with a simple outpatient procedure. Eliminating cancer at such an early stage is truly significant news for kidney cancer patients," he added.
“It is important that individuals realise all their treatment options - especially since the incidence of kidney cancer has been steadily increasing in this country over the past 30 years”, said Georgiades. Approximately 54,000 people are diagnosed with kidney cancer each year- with nearly 13,000 dying from it annually, according to recent statistics.
Most people with this cancer are older, and the overall lifetime risk of getting kidney cancer is about 1 in 75 - with men at higher risk than women. More than 75% of individuals who are diagnosed with kidney cancer have small tumours that are discovered incidentally. "Cryoablation is a great treatment option that doctors should discuss with patients early on," he explained.
The Hopkins studies, examining the safety and efficacy of percutaneous cryoablation, show the treatment's powerful results.
"Based on the results of our three-year study, we have shown that interventional cryoablation for kidney cancer should be the gold standard or the first treatment option for all patients whose tumours are 4 centimetres or smaller. It should be a viable option for patients whose cancer is even larger than that. And, ablation is a very effective option for patients who cannot or do not want to have surgery," noted Georgiades.
Cryoablation's efficacy rate -the ratio of how many patients' renal cell carcinoma was destroyed completely for localized tumours by size - is 100% up to 4 centimetres and nearly 100% up to 7 centimetres. Three localised 10-centimeter tumours - large tumours that are typically removed surgically - were treated; in two cases the tumour was successfully killed.
"This news is especially significant for individuals with small tumours, since more than 75% of patients who are diagnosed with kidney cancer have tumours that are 4 centimetres or less in size," said Georgiades. "These individuals can have their tumours treated completely, effectively, without surgery, with quicker recovery and mostly on an outpatient basis.
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