Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is therapy using ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radiation therapy may be curative in a number of types of cancer if they are localized to one area of the body. It may also be used as part of adjuvant therapy, to prevent tumor recurrence after surgery to remove a primary malignant tumor. Radiation therapy is synergistic with chemotherapy, and has been used before, during, and after chemotherapy in susceptible cancers. The subspecialty of oncology concerned with radiotherapy is called radiation oncology.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer in adults, and is the most common cause of death in people with cirrhosis.
A bone tumor is a neoplastic growth of tissue in bone. Abnormal growths found in the bone can be either benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
Interventional radiology (IR) is a group of techniques where medical imaging guidance, such as x-ray fluoroscopy, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasound, are used to precisely guide medical therapies to the internal structures of the body through very small incisions. The range of techniques is broadly classified into two main types of procedures; diagnostic and therapeutic.
Diathermy is electrically induced heat or the use of high-frequency electromagnetic currents as a form of physical therapy and in surgical procedures. The earliest observations on the reactions of high-frequency electromagnetic currents upon the human organism were made by Jacques Arsene d'Arsonval. The field was pioneered in 1907 by German physician Karl Franz Nagelschmidt, who coined the term diathermy from the Greek words dia and θέρμη therma, literally meaning "heating through".
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a medical procedure in which part of the electrical conduction system of the heart, tumor or other dysfunctional tissue is ablated using the heat generated from medium frequency alternating current. RFA is generally conducted in the outpatient setting, using either local anesthetics or conscious sedation anesthesia. When it is delivered via catheter, it is called radiofrequency catheter ablation.
Laser surgery is a type of surgery that uses a laser to cut tissue.
Non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). NSCLC accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. As a class, NSCLCs are relatively insensitive to chemotherapy, compared to small cell carcinoma. When possible, they are primarily treated by surgical resection with curative intent, although chemotherapy has been used increasingly both pre-operatively and post-operatively.
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.
John S. Kanzius was an American inventor, radio and TV engineer, one-time station owner and ham radio operator from Erie, Pennsylvania. He invented a method that, he said, could treat virtually all forms of cancer, with no side effects, and without the need for surgery or medication. He also demonstrated a device that generated flammable hydrogen-containing gas from salt-water-solution by the use of radiowaves. In the media this was dubbed "burning salt water". Both effects involve the use of his radio frequency transmitter.
An osteoid osteoma is a benign bone tumor that arises from osteoblasts and some components of osteoclasts and was originally thought to be a smaller version of an osteoblastoma. Osteoid osteomas tend to be less than 1.5 cm in size. The tumor can be in any bone in the body but are most common in long bones, such as the femur and tibia. They account for 10 to 12 percent of all benign bone tumors. "Osteoid osteomas may occur at any age, and are most common in patients between the ages of 4 and 25 years old. Males are affected approximately three times more commonly than females."
Hyperthermia therapy is a type of medical treatment in which body tissue is exposed to higher temperatures in an effort to treat Lyme disease and cancer.
Selective internal radiation therapy, also known as transarterial radioembolization (TARE), radioembolization or intra-arterial microbrachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy used in interventional radiology to treat cancer. It is generally for selected patients with surgically unresectable cancers, especially hepatocellular carcinoma or metastasis to the liver. The treatment involves injecting tiny microspheres of radioactive material into the arteries that supply the tumor, where the spheres lodge in the small vessels of the tumor. Because this treatment combines radiotherapy with embolization, it is also called radioembolization. The chemotherapeutic analogue is called chemoembolization, of which transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the usual form.
Bone metastases, or osseous metastatic disease, is a category of cancer metastases that results from primary tumor invasion to bone. Bone-originating primary tumors such as osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, and Ewing's sarcoma are rare. Unlike hematological malignancies that originate in the blood and form non-solid tumors, bone metastases generally arise from epithelial tumors and form a solid mass inside the bone. Bone metastases cause severe pain, characterized by a dull, constant ache with periodic spikes of incident pain.
Treatment of lung cancer refers to the use of medical therapies, such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, percutaneous ablation, and palliative care, alone or in combination, in an attempt to cure or lessen the adverse impact of malignant neoplasms originating in lung tissue.
Irreversible electroporation is a soft tissue ablation technique using ultra short but strong electrical fields to create permanent and hence lethal nanopores in the cell membrane, to disrupt the cellular homeostasis. The resulting cell death results from apoptosis and not necrosis as in all other thermal or radiation based ablation techniques. The main use of IRE lies in tumor ablation in regions where precision and conservation of the extracellular matrix, blood flow and nerves are of importance. The technique, in the form of the NanoKnife System, became commercially available for research purposes in 2009, solely for the surgical ablation of soft tissue tumors.
Intrapleural perfusion of hyperthermic (heated) chemotherapy (ITH) is part of a surgical strategy employed in the treatment of various pleural malignancies. The pleura in this situation could be considered to include the surface linings of the chest wall, lungs, mediastinum, and diaphragm. ITH is the chest counterpart of HIPEC. Traditionally used in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma, a primary malignancy of the pleura, more recent application of this modality to the treatment of secondary pleural malignancies has been more promising.
Targeted radiofrequency ablation is a minimally invasive procedure to treat severe pain and discomfort caused from metastatic tumors in the vertebral body of the spine. This procedure uses radiofrequency energy to target and ablate a specific spinal tumor, causing it shrink and reduce the pressure on the surrounding nerves and tissues. The procedure minimizes damage to the vertebrae and surrounding tissues. It is used as a palliative therapy rather with the intention of treating the cancer itself.
Interventional oncology is a subspecialty field of interventional radiology that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and cancer-related problems using targeted minimally invasive procedures performed under image guidance. Interventional oncology has developed to a separate pillar of modern oncology and it employs X-ray, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to help guide miniaturized instruments to allow targeted and precise treatment of solid tumours located in various organs of the human body, including but not limited to the liver, kidneys, lungs, and bones. Interventional oncology treatments are routinely carried out by interventional radiologists in appropriate settings and facilities.
Combinatorial ablation and immunotherapy is an oncological treatment that combines various tumor-ablation techniques with immunotherapy treatment. Combining ablation therapy of tumors with immunotherapy enhances the immunostimulating response and has synergistic effects for curative metastatic cancer treatment. Various ablative techniques are utilized including cryoablation, radiofrequency ablation, laser ablation, photodynamic ablation, stereotactic radiation therapy, hyperthermia therapy, HIFU. Thus, combinatorial ablation of tumors and immunotherapy is a way of achieving autologous, in-vivo tumor lysate vaccine and treat metastatic disease.
