Groundbreaking 30-minute lung cancer treatment helps patients to avoid invasive surgery

The pioneering new treatment, known as radiofrequency ablation, uses a hot needle to zap tumours in just 30 minutes, removing the need for invasive and potentially life-changing surgery. The treatment also allows doctors to carry out a biopsy at the same time, to determine how aggressive the cancer is and how likely it is to spread to other parts of the body.

There are currently around 50,000 people in the UK diagnosed with lung cancer each year and if diagnosed and treated early, it can often be fatal, only five per cent of patients live longer than ten years.

The majority of lung-cancer patients undergo repeat procedures to remove small pieces of the tumour for biopsy, which is followed by radiotherapy treatment or further surgery to remove the tumour.

The new treatment reduces the time taken to receive biopsy results and has also been shown in studies to be just as effective as conventional treatment for diagnosing and killing tumours.

During the procedure, a dose of local anaesthetic is delivered to the chest area and the patient lies under a CT scanner. The needle is inserted between the ribs close to the tumour, and a sample is taken to be sent for analysis. A further needle is then inserted, which is connected to a generator that delivers radiofrequency energy to the tumour, heating it to 60 and 70oc, and killing it. It is safe to be performed multiple times.

Consultant chest radiologist Dr Sam Hare, who established the procedure, said “This new way of both sampling and destroying small lung tumours at the same time is a very effective way of treating lung cancer.

“We can now destroy even more small tumours without surgery in a single session, before they can spread. Patients go home the same day.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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