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Targeted Cryoablation Shows Promise In Liver Cancer Treatment
IRVINE, CA -- Aug. 6, 1998 -- Study data published in the journal Cancer shows
that Endocare, Inc.’s targeted cryoablation technology designed to treat
liver cancer shows promise in treating the disease and may be able to prolong
patient survival.
"Utilising Endocare's unique freezing and temperature monitoring technology,
we are able to apply extremely cold temperatures to targeted cancerous tissue
until it has been broken down and no longer exists," said Wilson Wong, M.D.,
a radiologist based at Southern California's Alhambra Hospital and one of the
study’s authors. "We are very encouraged by early data. Results show that
targeted cryoablation can be effective in patients where surgical resection
is not an effective option.
"In the treatment of liver cancer, targeted ablation enables us to rid the
liver of more cancerous tissue while the technology's precise targeting element
allows us to spare the sections of the liver that are not cancerous."
Because it is one of the most malignant forms of cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma
(liver cancer) is a disease that has traditionally been very difficult to treat.
The reported incidence is three per 100,000 per year in the United States, rising
to 30 per 100,000 internationally. Patients suffering from the disease generally
have a poor prognosis. Endocare's targeted cryoablation equipment is particularly
groundbreaking because cancerous tumours of the liver usually cannot be removed
surgically.
The targeted cryoablation devices used in treating liver cancer are the latest
in a growing series of temperature-based technologies developed by Endocare,
including similar targeted cryoablation devices that have exhibited success
in treating prostate cancer.
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