What is thermal ablation or freezing of kidney cancer?
Thermal Ablation – An alternative therapy for kidney cancer is to treat the cancerous tissue using extreme temperatures. Cryotherapy freezes the tissue to kill cancer cells where radiofrequency uses heat to destroy cancer cells. Both methods use several tiny probes that are inserted into the kidney tumor either through an open or laparoscopic surgical technique. Thermal ablation therapy does not take the cancerous tissue out of the body, but rather uses probes to deliver extreme temperatures to tumors in the hopes that all cancerous tissue is destroyed. An important note, studies show that patients treated with ablation (cryoablation or radiofrequency) had a significantly higher rate of recurrence – meaning the cancer returned – as compared to partial nephrectomy patients.6 Traditional Open Surgery – Kidney surgery is traditionally performed using an open approach, meaning doctors must make a large incision in the abdomen. Another approach is conventional laparoscopic surgery. It is le
