AngioDynamics Highlights Study Showing Significant 5-Year Survival After Ablation Of Colorectal Liver Metastases

Main Category: Colorectal Cancer
Also Included In: Radiology / Nuclear Medicine;  Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 09 Nov 2007 - 13:00 PDT

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AngioDynamics (NASDAQ:ANGO) highlighted results from a 10-year study showing actual 3-year and 5-year survival rates of 20.2% and 18.4%, respectively, in 234 patients that had undergone radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of colorectal hepatic metastases. The patients in this study were not candidates for surgery and had failed chemotherapy prior to receiving RFA; in the absence of treatment, these patients have 5-year survival rates near zero.

The study was conducted by Allan E. Siperstein, MD, and colleagues, all of the Cleveland Clinic. The Annals of Surgery published their paper, "Survival After Radiofrequency Ablation of Colorectal Liver Metastases, 10-Year Experience," in its October 2007 issue. Authorized reprints of the paper are available through http://www.annalsofsurgery.com.

Dr. David L. Bartlett, Professor of Surgery and Chief of Surgical Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said, "This series is extremely valuable because of its sheer size, uniform treatment strategy and long-term, uniform follow-up. To take a group of unresectable patients and provide 18% 5-year survival, I think really cements the role of radiofrequency ablation in this disease."

"This significant 5-year survival rate in patients with non-resectable disease is an irrefutable argument for the benefit of RFA, and important validation for the potential value of other emerging focal ablation therapies," said Eamonn Hobbs, AngioDynamics President & CEO. "With its larger patient population, 10-year follow-up and more rigorous analysis, we believe that Dr. Siperstein's paper is now the most authoritative on the subject of RFA for colorectal hepatic metastases. Until now, the longest follow-up published in any other study of RFA had been 5 years."

The study was based on a prospective evaluation of 234 patients with colorectal liver metastases who underwent 292 RFA sessions between 1997 and 2006. The paper's key points include:

- In patients deemed unresectable in interdisciplinary review and pre-treated with chemotherapy, median survival after RFA is 24 months; for reference, median survival after failure of modern, first-line chemotherapy without subsequent RFA or surgery is 12 to 15 months;

- Approximately 24% of patients who participated in the study had documented extra-hepatic disease, but this presence of extra-hepatic disease did not negatively impact survival;

- The mean size of the dominant lesion was 3.9 cm; lesions ranged in size from 1.1 cm to 10.2 cm. In the paper's Q&A, Dr. Siperstein acknowledges that newer RFA equipment that allows for an ablation volume of up to 7 cm had enabled him to take on more challenging cases as the study progressed. Dr. Siperstein used RITA ablation probes, manufactured by AngioDynamics, to perform all of the ablation procedures in this study.

As Dr. Siperstein noted in his paper, colorectal cancer is the third most common cause of cancer death in men and women, resulting in more than 53,000 deaths in 2007.

More than 150,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. According to published reports, up to 25% of patients with colorectal cancer will develop liver metastases within five years, 50% will show evidence of metastatic disease, and of these only 8% to 27% will be candidates for surgery. The remaining patients rarely survive five years.

About AngioDynamics

AngioDynamics, Inc. is a leading provider of innovative medical devices used by interventional radiologists, surgeons, and other physicians for the minimally invasive treatment of cancer and peripheral vascular disease. The Company's diverse product line includes market-leading radiofrequency ablation systems, vascular access products, angiographic products and accessories, dialysis products, angioplasty products, drainage products, thrombolytic products, embolization products and venous products.

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