Hong Kong Doctors Use Microwaves To Treat Liver Cancer

A new type of FDA-approved high efficiency microwave coagulation system has now been tested in Asia by doctors from the University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine.

AsianScientist (Mar. 31, 2011) – A new type of FDA-approved high efficiency microwave coagulation system has now been tested in Asia by doctors from the University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine.

The new microwave ablation method relies on the interaction of alternating electric fields with water molecules to generate heat energy through water vibration and rotation.

This method has significant advantages over the older radiofrequency ablation (RFA) method to treat primary liver tumors, including ablating bigger tumors over a shorter duration, and more effectively killing the tumor cells.

18 patients aged between 41-75 years old received microwave treatment at the Queen’s Mary Hospital. On average, each session was 8.5 minutes long, and tumor sizes were about 2.0 cm in diameter. No complications were observed after microwave treatment, and most patients showed complete tumor ablation.

Primary liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in Hong Kong, and one of the five most common malignancies in the world, with 500,000 new cases occurring annually.

More than half of these occur in China, with 1,700 cases of liver cancers in Hong Kong each year. Hepatitis B virus is a known risk factor, and eight percent of the population has chronic Hepatitis B infection.

Professor Ronnie Poon, Clinical Professor of Department of Surgery and key researcher of the study, believes that the microwave ablation may potentially be applied to treat cancers of the lung, kidney and bone.

Despite improvements to ablation techniques, hepatic resection (surgery) is still the most effective treatment for liver cancer. However, a majority of patients have unresectable HCCs because of advanced disease or poor liver function reserve. Currently, Hong Kong also suffers a shortage of liver grafts which are needed for the surgery.

Microwave Ablation
Doctors performing microwave ablation for liver cancer patients.
(Source: University of Hong Kong)

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Source: University of Hong Kong.
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