Focused ultrasound: tumour ablation and its potential to enhance immunological therapy to cancer (2024)

FAQs

What are the techniques for tumor ablation? ›

Tumor ablation can be divided into four types: radiofrequency ablation (RFA), microwave ablation (MWA), cryoablation, and percutaneous ethanol ablation (PEI).

Ablation is an image-guided, non-surgical treatment in which interventional radiologists guide a needle-tipped catheter directly into a tumor, then shrink or destroy the tumor with extreme heat or cold.

Focused ultrasound is capable of rapidly heating tumors to thermally ablative temperatures. Its extracorporeal application obviates the need for catheterization, injection or implantation.

High-intensity-focused-ultrasound (HIFU) is an emerging, noninvasive ablation procedure that can ablate various solid tumors, including primary and secondary liver cancer. It can focus ultrasound energy on the lesions of interest and induce tumor coagulative necrosis by thermal effect (17).

The needle heats the tumour and destroys it. The time this takes varies. It can take anything from 30 minutes to a couple of hours in total. Nurses monitor you throughout the procedure.

Ablation therapy is called a minimally invasive procedure because it does not require open surgery with large cuts through the skin and other tissues to remove the abnormal tissue.

The Procedure

Catheter ablation can take between two and four hours to complete. The procedure is done in an electrophysiology lab where you will be monitored closely.

Overall estimated lifetime risk for cancer from a single AF ablation was 4.6 ± 9.7 per 100,000 patients, (IQR 0.8, 4.5) i.e. 1 in 21,700.

Is endovenous thermal ablation painful? You'll receive anesthesia for endovenous thermal ablation, so you won't feel any pain. After your procedure, you might experience some soreness, tingling or bruising near the vein that was treated. Usually, you can manage any pain with over-the-counter medications.

What is the recovery time for a thermal ablation? ›

You may have cramps and vaginal bleeding or spotting for several days. You may also have watery vaginal discharge for around 1 to 2 weeks. It may take a few days to 2 weeks to recover.

Median overall survival (OS) rates after thermal ablation are reported mainly in matched cohorts or after multivariable analysis and vary from 34.3 to 53.2 months with 5- and 10-year survival rates of 20.8–60.0% and 18.0%, respectively [9, 19, 20, 33–39] .

HIFU doesn't work if you are too old

There are limitations to what non-surgical devices can achieve, but many mature people are perfectly suitable for HIFU. You can't judge if the treatment is suitable or not by your age. Some young people may show early signs of skin sagging and vice versa.

total hepatectomy (surgery to remove all of the liver) and liver transplant. partial hepatectomy (surgery to remove the part of the liver where cancer is found) ablation therapy. transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and sorafenib as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life.

How much does HIFU treatment cost for prostate cancer? HIFU can cost around $10,000–$15,000. However, Medicare and many other health insurance carriers will cover the costs providing that the person meets certain criteria within their insurance policies.

PFA technology uses electrical pulses to kill targeted cardiac muscle cells, creating scar tissue that blocks the faulty electrical signals that cause atrial fibrillation, an irregular—often rapid—heartbeat. The 4,000 volts of electricity used kill targeted heart cells but not other nearby cells.

Imaging techniques are used to guide the ablation. The abnormal tissue can be damaged or destroyed with various techniques, including heat (radiofrequency ablation), extreme cold (cryoablation), lasers or chemicals.

Also known as tissue ablation, cell ablation is a biotechnological tool for studying cell lineage. The process consists of selectively destroying or removing cells in an organism. For example, a laser beam or controllable gene promoter for a toxin gene can be used to destroy a selected amount of cells.