Percutaneous cryoablation, a relatively non-invasive technique that destroys tumors by freezing them, is a safe method for treating kidney tumors in selected patients who are not considered candidates for surgery, according to a new study by researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
For the study, researchers treated 59 kidney tumors in 58 patients using percutaneous (through the skin) cryoablation. The researchers found that the tumors were destroyed in 57 of the 59 cases.
After an average follow-up of nine months for the 42 tumors that were available to the researchers, no tumor progression was found. The traditional treatment for worrisome kidney tumors has been surgery, according to the researchers. "A relative drawback of surgery is its invasiveness, where a large incision or several smaller incisions are required. Recovery for surgery may be prolonged, on the order of weeks. In contrast, percutaneous cryoablation is performed through small nicks in the skin, and the patient is dismissed from the hospital within 24 hours with a few band-aids," said Thomas Atwell, MD, one of the authors of the study.