Abstract
Purpose Local ablative therapies have become an established treatment option in interventional
oncology. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) are a standard
of care in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Currently, there is an
increasing interest in cryotherapy, one of the oldest ablation techniques. It has
some unique characteristics with regard to technology and mechanism of action.
Materials and Methods A systematic literature search using the terms cryotherapy, cryosurgery and cryoablation
was performed. Selected studies are presented dealing with the mechanism of action,
cryobiology and clinical use of percutaneous, image-guided cryoablation. Recent developments
and perspectives are presented.
Results Cryotherapy is increasingly used and has been included in guidelines for selected
tumor entities such as renal cell carcinoma. Cryo-immunotherapy and combination treatments
are future areas of interest.
Conclusion Cryoabalation may be used in many indications. Its major advantages are its unique
visualization and the anesthesiologic effects of cold. While there are only a few
prospectively randomized trials, the existing data on the use of cryoablation is promising.
Its use appears to be justified in selected tumors, oligometastatic patients and for
palliative indications.
Key Points
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Interventionalists need to know about the unique characteristics and advantages of
cryoablation.
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Proper patient selection and optimal image guidance are essential for successful cryotherapy.
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Cryoablation offers unique advantages such as anesthesiologic effects and characteristic
imaging features.
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The lack of prospective randomized trials is a key disadvantage of cryoablation.
Citation Format
Key words
cryoablation - oncology - ablation - neoplasm - cancer - image-guided
