Oncology, surgery – In the news
Liver tumours treated effectively by MR-guided laser ablation
20 December 2005
Destruction of cancerous liver tissue by laser light guided by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was found to be as effective as traditional surgery for some patients, in a large-scale, 12-year study in Germany.
In the largest study of its type with the longest follow-up, 839 patients at the University of Frankfurt in Germany received MR-guided laser-induced thermotherapy (LITT) for the treatment of liver tumours resulting from colorectal cancer. Between 1993 and 2005, the researchers treated 2,506 liver tumours and tracked survival rates to evaluate the long-term results of the procedure. The average survival rate from the date of diagnosis was 3.8 years, which compares favourably to survival rates after traditional surgery (approximately 1.5 to 5.0 years). The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
FDA Statement