RFA Destroys Kidney Cancers and Deters Recurrence

A study has shown that radiofrequency ablation (RFA) destroyed all renal cell carcinoma tumors in 34 patients, of whom 32 have had no local recurrence during the follow-up period. The results were reported in the February 2003 issue of Radiology.

Renal cell carcinoma is the most common form of kidney cancer and is most often treated with surgical removal. Researchers at several medical centers have used RFA for patients for whom surgery was not an option. The current study reports on what may be the largest number of such patients treated and the longest follow-up time. RFA delivers heat generated by electrical energy to tumor sites through a thin needle, with placement guided by ultrasound or other imaging technique.

A total of 42 individual tumors were treated in the new study, ranging in size from 1-9 cm. All tumors located on the surface of the kidney were completely destroyed, regardless of size. While larger tumors within the central kidney were more difficult to treat, more than half of those treated were destroyed with additional treatments. Follow-up ranged from three months to three-and-a-half years. Four patients died of unrelated causes, two of whom had no tumor recurrence. The other 30 patients have had no local recurrence. None of the patients with limited kidney function needed to have dialysis.

"I am optimistic that, with further study, RFA will someday become the standard of care for selected kidney tumors,” said W. Scott McDougal, M.D., a co-author and chief of urology at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, USA).




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