Background: It is very difficult for cryosurgery to ablate all tumors because of its large volume and irregular shape. It is a complementary method for chemo-radioactive concurrent therapy to treat tumor remains. The aim of this study is to evaluate the application, security and effectiveness of Argon-Helium cryosurgery combined with radioactive seeds/release-controlled drugs implantation for percutaneous treatment of pulmonary neoplasma by CT guidance.
Methods: Lung cryosurgery and radioactive seeds and release-controlled drugs implantation were sequentially performed in 20 cases with 16 primary lung cancer and 4 secondary lung cancer. Side effects were observed during cryosurgery and seeds implantation.
Results: (3.4+/-0.2) cryoprobes were inserted into a nodule which is average (5.8+/-0.5) cm in diameter in 20 cases with 21 tumors. 85.6%+/-2.4% of tumor size had been ablated for each procedure. Haemoptysis occurred in 80% patients after cryosurgery, and disappeared in a week. Pneumothroax happened in 15% patients and recovered in a short time without special treatment. Absorption fever occurred in 20% patients and returned to normal in a week. (23.4+/-1.4) radioactive seeds and (8.3+/-1.2) drug-released drugs were percutaneously inserted into the 21 remaining tumors in a week after cryosurgery and 4 tumors (<2 cm in diameter) without cryosurgery. There were no severe side effects directly related to the procedures except 3 had slight nausea. The medium survive time was 16 months and average survive time was (14.0+/-2.6) months. More than 60% of patients survived more than 1 year.
Conclusions: Cryosurgery is a rapid modality for the debulking of pulmoanry tumor and concurrent therapy of radioactive seeds and release-controlled drugs implantation could effectively treat the remaining tumor. It is a rapid and effective method for the treatment of advanced stage lung cancer.