A U.S study has said that Radiofrequency ablation, a minimally invasive procedure, is effective for treating lung cancer in patients not candidates for surgery.
The procedure involves using a specialized needle inserted through the skin to transmit high-frequency electrical currents into a tumor. It is linked to promising long-term survival, according to the study in the April issue of the journal Radiology.
The study of 153 patients who were treated for early-stage, inoperable lung cancer showed that the procedure can successfully treat patients with lung cancer who could not undergo surgery in one fairly simple treatment, study leader Dr. Damian Dupuy, director of Rhode Island Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, said in a statement.
The study also shows radiofrequency ablation is equal to or more effective than the older treatment method of external beam radiation, which requires treatments over a six-week period and can have a variety of side effects
