NEW CANCER TREATMENT, CRYOABLATION : NOW AVAILABLE AT PGIMER First in the country

 The incidence of cancer is increasing  globally. In India, as well, the number of patients with cancer is on the rise. The department of Radiodiagnosis at PGIMER, Chandigarh has recently acquired the state-of-the-art machine for doing cryoablation of tumours in patients who are not  suitable to be treated with surgery. This machine is the first of its kind installed anywhere in the country. The department is now fully equipped to treat unresectable cancers with all the ablation modalities like radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, irreversible electroporation, high intensity focussed ultrasound and now cryoablation, available under one roof.  'With the installation of this machine, the Institution will now be part of the elite group of hospitals in the entire world including the likes of MD Anderson Cancer Center in United States', said Prof. Khandelwal, Head, Department of Radiodiagnosis, PGIMER.

  Cryoablation works on the principle of freeze-thaw-freeze cycle. This results in the destruction of the tumor cells by mechanical and inflammatory mechanism. Needles or probes of various sizes are introduced into the tumours of the kidney, lung, liver or bone under the guidance of CT scan or ultrasound. Cryotherapy is then delivered into the tumor over a period of 30 minutes. The advantage of this procedure over the other ablation techniques is that the technique is relatively pain free as it numbs the nerves supplying the organ due to the extreme low temperature (about -150 degree celsius) reached at the site of therapy. Therefore, it may be done under local anesthesia or with conscious sedation only. Five tumours in different locations like lung, kidney, liver and bone were treated by Dr Naveen Kalra and the team of interventional radiologists including Dr Mandeep Kang, Dr Anupam Lal, Dr Mahesh Prakash, Dr Anindita, Dr Ajay, Dr Ujjwal and Dr Shridhar. Dr Francois H Cornelis, Interventional Radiologist from Sorbonne University, Paris, France helped in the planning of the technique and guided the team as these procedures were being performed for the first time in the department and in the country.