Liver Cancer Treatment & Ongoing Care

Cryosurgery

Freezing the tumor can convert the cancer and the immediate area around it into an “ice ball”. I have no experience with this technique. A number of locations in the country do continue to utilize this technique. The complication rate is higher than in RFA and the patient population in which it is a valid technique is the same as the RFA population of patients. On the other hand, the ability to visualize the area killed by freezing is better than with RFA since the “iceball” is well seen at sonography, whereas bubbles forming with heating of the tumor can make it hard to see how much tissue has been killed. The decision between RFA and cryotherapy is up to the surgeon. Radiofrequency ablation is the most widespread technique at this time, in spite of its shorter history. My technique of choice in this patient group will be radiofrequency ablation.

Contact my office to learn more about Cryosurgery and other, possibly better methods of liver cancer treatment.