High-Frequency Thermotherapy for Liver Cancer

A new weapon against liver cancer that uses high-frequency energy to generate heat to destroy cancerous tissue also employs a saline solution to avoid dehydration of tissues, thereby allowing the heat to spread over a wider area. The treatment, which is minimally invasive, offers an alternative to surgery for inoperable patients.

The radio frequency tissue ablation (RFTA) procedure lasts no longer than an hour and requires only local anesthesia. The needle electrode is monitored by sonography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as it is introduced into the tumor. Patients are able to go home the next day. No complications or side effects requiring treatment have yet been observed. The interior of the needle electrode is hollow and the needle tip has microscopically fine openings and water depositories. During treatment, physiologic saline solution in tiny amounts penetrates into the tissue through these holes. This saline solution markedly increases electric conductivity for high-frequency current at the target area. The system was developed by scientists at the Berchtold Company (Tuttlingen, Germany; www.berchtold.de), in collaboration with university clinics in Germany.

Numerous studies have shown no differences in the survival rate of patients who underwent surgery and those who had the thermotherapy. In one ultrasound-guided study, 75% of all tumors were destroyed with the RFTA procedure. The remaining 25% were larger than 5cm, so the size of the tumor appears to be the limiting factor of therapy success. Tumors smaller than 40 mm were all destroyed. At six months follow-up, 11 of the 15 patients who were initially in complete remission were still in remission.




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