Laser Treatment Effective in Treating Liver Tumors
Reported November 30, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Laser ablation with magnetic resonance (MR) guidance is as effective as traditional surgery in the treatment of liver tumors in some patients, according to a large-scale, 12-year study conducted by researchers from the University of Frankfurt in Germany.
Investigators followed 839 patients receiving MR-guided, laser-induced thermotherapy (LITT) for the treatment of liver tumors resulting from colorectal cancer. Between 1993 and 2005, researchers found 2,506 liver tumors and tracked survival rates of the patients to evaluate the long-term results of the procedure. The average survival rate from the data diagnosis was 3.8 years.
“Traditional surgical resection has higher morbidity and mortality rates than laser ablation,” says Martin Mack, M.D., an associate professor in the department of diagnostic and interventional radiology at the University of Frankfurt. “Laser treatment can be done on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. Typically, the patient stays only a couple of hours, instead of a couple of weeks in the hospital after surgical liver resection.”
A major benefit of laser ablation is that it can be used to treat tumors occurring in both halves of the liver — often during the same treatment — which, according to Dr. Mack is practically impossible in a traditional surgery. If new tumors are found during follow-up exams, it is much easier to repeat laser treatment than to subject the patient to another open surgery. “Many surgeons are already performing local ablation instead of resection, because they have already recognized the positive effect of local ablation,” Dr. Mack says.
SOURCE: Annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago, Nov. 26 – Dec. 2, 2005
