The animal studies illustrated the method was safe and effective. In 1996, he went to the G. Pascale Foundation at the National Cancer Institute in Naples, Italy, to work with colleagues in applying radiofrequency ablation to patients. That collaboration was very productive, in part due to the high incidence of primary liver cancer in southern Italy. The first M. D. Anderson patients had the procedure a year later. The technique can destroy liver tumors on or near major blood vessels.
Side effects are minimal.
As many as six to eight tumors can be treated so long as the combined tumor volume is less than 40 percent of the total liver volume. Radiofrequency ablation can be performed during conventional open surgery or through an instrument called a laparoscope inserted into the abdomen. Intraoperative ultrasound is used to guide the heat probe to the liver tumors. By placing the needle electrode in the tumor, a controlled ablation can be achieved. Fewer than 14,000 new cases of primary liver cancer were predicted last year in the United States.