Read article Radiofrequency ablation for carcinoid
This page is about radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for carcinoid tumours.
Radiofrequency ablation for carcinoid
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) kills cancer cells by heating them up. It is a new way of treating cancer that has spread to the liver and cannot be removed by surgery.
Early research suggests that RFA can control carcinoid tumours in the liver for some time. But the tumours often grow back again. Radiofrequency ablation controls symptoms well for a time in most people. We need more research to find out how well it works in the long term.
What happens when you have RFA
First of all, you have a drug to relax you and make you sleepy. Then the doctor guides a special needle or probe through the skin of your abdomen into the tumour, guided by a scanner. The probe is an electrode that passes a radiofrequency current into the tumour. This heats the tumour and destroys it. The treatment takes between 30 minutes and an hour. You should be able to go home within a few hours.
Side effects of radiofrequency ablation
You may have some pain in your right shoulder after the treatment. About 1 in 4 people who have this treatment (25%) have flu like symptoms. The symptoms may start up to 5 days after the treatment and usually last for up to 5 to 7 days.
You can view and print the quick guides for all the pages in the Treating carcinoid section.
Radiofrequency ablation kills cancer cells by heating them up. It is a new way of treating cancer that has spread to the liver. Doctors use radiofrequency ablation for tumours that
- Are less than 4 cm in size
- Cannot be removed with surgery
Early research suggests that RFA can control carcinoid tumours in the liver for some time but the tumours usually grow back again. The research also shows that radiofrequency ablation controls symptoms well for a time in most people. We need more research to find out how well this type of treatment works in the long term.
Before you have radiofrequency ablation, you must not eat or drink for at least 6 hours. You usually have the treatment in the scanning department of the hospital.
First of all, you have a drug to relax you and make you sleepy. Once you are relaxed, your doctor injects a local anaesthetic into your skin, to numb the area on the right of your abdomen. When the area is numb, the doctor uses either an ultrasound scan or a CT scan to guide the treatment. They guide a special needle or probe through the skin into the tumour. The probe is an electrode that passes a radiofrequency current into the tumour. This heats the tumour and destroys it. Normal liver tissue is able to withstand heat better than the tumour and so can recover more easily.
The treatment takes between 30 minutes and an hour. After the treatment, you will need time to wake up, but should be able to go home within a few hours.
You may have some pain in your right shoulder after the treatment. About 1 in 4 people who have this treatment (25%) have flu like symptoms. The symptoms may start up to 5 days after the treatment and usually last for up to 5 to 7 days. Very rarely people have some bleeding from the liver but this normally stops without treatment.
Radiofrequency ablation is not available in all hospitals and you may need to travel to a specialist centre to have it.
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