Radiofrequency ablation effective in treating small kidney tumors

Computed tomography-guided radiofrequency ablation was nearly 100% successful in eradicating small, malignant kidney tumors in a study of more than 100 patients, according to researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC.

A total of 125 tumors ranging in size from 0.6 cm to 8.8 cm in 104 patients were treated at that institution between 2000 and 2006. Of 95 tumors that were smaller than 3.7 cm, all were completely eradicated by a single treatment. In addition, 14 of the larger tumors were destroyed. Seven more of the 16 remaining larger tumors were eradicated after a second treatment, for a 93% overall success rate in the 125 tumors.

The results, reported in the American Journal of Roentgenology (2007; 189:429-36), were based on follow-up exams over an average of about 14 months.

“This is the largest treatment group to date of patients with biopsy-proven renal malignancies,” said lead author Ronald J. Zagoria, MD. “The results-a high cure rate and low complication rate-establish that at institutions with experience doing this procedure, this is an alternative method for treating small renal malignancies in patients who are not good surgical candidates.”