Cryotherapy for lung cancer

Cryotherapy (also called cryosurgery) is a way of killing cancer cells by freezing them. Doctors can use cryotherapy as a treatment for people with advanced lung cancer. It is mainly available in specialist hospitals.

Cryotherapy can shrink a tumour that is blocking an airway. This can relieve breathlessness and other symptoms such as a cough, coughing up blood, or a chest infection in the blocked part of the lung.

You can have the treatment again at a later date if the tumour starts to block the airway again.

Your doctor will explain all the possible risks and benefits to you beforehand.

You have a general anaesthetic or a drug to make you drowsy. Then your doctor puts a flexible tube called a bronchoscope down your throat and into the airway.

The doctor puts a probe called a cryoprobe down the bronchoscope. The probe freezes part of the tumour. The doctor then allows the area to thaw just enough for the cryoprobe to come away from the tissue. Your doctor may repeat this 2 or 3 times in that area. They then move the cryoprobe along to freeze the next area.

Your doctor repeats the process until they have treated the whole area of cancer. They remove as much of the tissue as possible using forceps or the cryoprobe.

If the tumour starts to grow again and causes another blockage, you can have cryotherapy treatment again.

You usually find that your symptoms improve over a couple of days following the treatment.

You may cough up some tumour tissue for 1 or 2 days after this treatment, which can be unpleasant.

The treatment area can be painful and you will probably need to take painkillers for a few days after your treatment.

Other possible side effects include coughing up blood for a short time afterwards, changes in your heartbeat, difficulty breathing or a chest infection. These effects are usually short term and get better over a few days.

A very rare complication is the development of a fistula. An oesophageal fistula is a hole joining the airway and the food pipe (oesophagus).

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) looked at cryotherapy for advanced lung cancer. They found that it helped to relieve symptoms in more than 8 out of 10 people treated.

NICE say that it is important for you to know all the risks before you agree to the treatment, as well as any other treatment options open to you. And NICE have asked doctors to continue to monitor the results of cryotherapy for lung cancer.

We have more information on this website about cryotherapy treatment. You can ask your doctor or specialist nurse for written information. You can also phone the Cancer Research UK nurses on freephone 0808 800 4040, from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Our lung cancer organisations page has details of people who can give information about cryotherapy. Some organisations can put you in touch with a cancer support group. Our lung cancer reading list has information about books and leaflets about lung cancer treatments.

If you want to find people to share experiences with online, you could use CancerChat, our online forum. Or you can go through My Wavelength. This is a free service that aims to put people with similar medical conditions in touch with each other.