Cryotherapy Cancer Treatment Services
Cryotherapy is a cancer treatment that kills cells by exposing them to extreme cold. Because living tissues cannot survive in drastically cold conditions, radiologists can use this therapy to induce hypothermia and kill solid tumors such as mesothelioma. This treatment, also known as cryoablation, is often used along with other types of treatment to eliminate all of the cancer cells in a patient's body.
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Cryotherapy is widely used to treat a number of ca...
Cryotherapy is widely used to treat a number of cancers, but its efficiency with mesothelioma is still being tested. Mesothelioma patients can most easily access the treatment through clinical trials, but they may also receive it under a doctor's discretion at facilities that offer it. Some hospitals may offer this therapy to mesothelioma patients before or after surgery, on a palliative or curative basis. Cryotherapy is effective in relieving the pain associated with mesothelioma because it can shrink tumors that press against the lungs and other organs, and it may also offer long-term management for local recurrences of the cancer.
Unlike other aggressive mesothelioma treatments, this therapy causes very few side effects. Most patients can leave the hospital a day after it is performed. Healthy tissue may eventually regenerate in the treated area.
What is it?
During this therapy, probes are inserted into solid tumors and a cryotherapeutic agent such as liquid nitrogen is injected into the tissue. This process traumatizes the tissue and interrupts blood flow to the area, killing the cancerous cells. Cryotherapy allows the radiologist to selectively destroy the cancerous tissue while leaving most healthy tissues undamaged.
It is performed in a radiology room rather than an operating room and takes approximately 30 minutes. The procedure is administered by a radiologist using a long, thin wand called a cryoprobe. Using video imaging, the radiologist will insert the cryoprobe through a small incision and position it on the tumor. Once the cryoprobe is in place, the tumor is injected with nitrogen or argon. If necessary, the radiologist will thaw and re-freeze the tumor several times during one appointment. The cancerous cells that die are naturally expelled from the body.
Uses with Mesothelioma
Cryotherapy is typically used in mesothelioma patients who have developed new tumors after undergoing surgery for the disease. Even though mesothelioma surgeons strive to remove the entire visible tumor, microscopic cancerous cells can be left behind and tumors may grow back months or years after an operation. Because most mesothelioma surgeries are usually not performed twice (harsh effects on the body make two surgeries disadvantageous), some patients undergo cryotherapy to remove these recurrent nodules.
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