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Concept
Cryoablation
Summary
Cryoablation is a process that uses extreme cold to destroy tissue. Cryoablation is performed using hollow needles (cryoprobes) through which cooled, thermally conductive, fluids are circulated. Cryoprobes are positioned adjacent to the target in such a way that the freezing process will destroy the diseased tissue. Once the probes are in place, the attached cryogenic freezing unit removes heat from ("cools") the tip of the probe and by extension from the surrounding tissues.
Ablation occurs in tissue that has been frozen by at least three mechanisms:
formation of ice crystals within cells thereby disrupting membranes, and interrupting cellular metabolism among other processes;
coagulation of blood thereby interrupting bloodflow to the tissue in turn causing ischemia and cell death; and
induction of apoptosis, the so-called programmed cell death cascade.
The most common application of cryoablation is to ablate solid tumors found in the lung, liver, breast, kidney and prostate. The use in prostate and renal cryoablation are the most common. Although sometimes applied in cryosurgery through laparoscopic or open surgical approaches, most often cryoablation is performed percutaneously (through the skin and into the target tissue containing the tumor) by a medical specialist, such as an interventional radiologist. The term is from cryo- + ablation.
Prostate cryoablation is moderately effective but, as with any prostate removal process, also can result in impotence. Prostate cryoablation is used in three patient categories:
as primary therapy in patients for whom sexual function is less important or who are poor candidates for radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP, surgical removal of the prostate);
as salvage therapy in patients who have failed brachytherapy (the use of implanted radioactive "seeds" placed within the prostate) or external beam radiation therapy (EBRT); and
focal therapy for smaller, discrete tumors in younger patients.
Cryoablation has been explored as an alternative to radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of moderate to severe pain in people with metastatic bone disease.
Official source
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