Lung Cancer Could Be Treated Using Icy Therapy Spot

In the initial results of the study, called the ECLIPSE trial (Evaluating Cryoablation of Metastatic Lung/Pleura Tumors in Patients—Safety and Efficacy), 22 subjects with a total of 36 tumors were treated with 27 cryoablation sessions. Cryoablation was 100 percent effective in killing those tumors at three-month follow-up. Follow-up at six months on 5 of the 22 patients (23 percent) showed the treated tumors to still be dead. Cryoablation is performed by an interventional radiologist using a small needle-like probe guided through a nick in the skin to cancerous tumors inside the lung under medical imaging guidance. These tumors have spread—or metastasized—to the lung from primary cancers in other areas of the body. Once in position, the tip of the instrument is cooled with gas to as low as minus 100 degrees Celsius. The resulting halo of ice crystals can destroy cancer by interrupting its cellular function, protecting nearby healthy, delicate lung tissue. Lung cryoablation has been promising in part due to the low periprocedural morbidity.