Effective treatment of liver cancer and liver metastases: 3D- navigated thermal ablation

Reto Bale, an interventional oncologist at Medical University of Innsbruck, has made significant advances in radiofrequency ablation treatment – a standard treatment method used all over the world. The novel technique incorporates 3D navigation technology and an aiming device that Bale originally developed for brain tumor biopsy. The so called „stereotactic radiofrequency ablation (SRFA)“ uses heat to destroy tumours with pinpoint accuracy. The main difference with this technique is that normally only one – and a maximum of three – probes are used, meaning you can only treat tumours measuring up to 3 centimetres. With this method multiple needles can be precisely placed in and around liver tumors. Thereby, even large tumors can be completely covered by overlapping ablation zones including a safety margin. The biggest tumour that was comprehensively treated was 18 centimetres in diameter. In total 900 patients with more than 1900 primary and seconary liver tumors (liver metastases) have already successfully been treated by Bale and his team.