Radiofrequency Ablation Growing In Popularity As A Treatment For Cancer

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Radiology / Nuclear Medicine;  Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 07 Dec 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Millennium Research Group forecasts that radiofrequency ablation (RFA) procedures for cancer treatment will grow at almost 12% over the next five years in the US. According to Millennium Research Group's US Markets for Nonvascular Interventional Radiology Devices 2008 report, over 21,000 RFA procedures will be performed in 2007 on patients with liver, kidney, breast, lung, and metastatic bone cancers; by 2012, RFA procedures will reach over 36,000.

Physicians are opting for this surgery due to its minimally invasive nature and its ability to safely and precisely ablate small tumors. If the continued release of clinical evidence supports RFA treatment as a viable alternative to surgical resection, physician confidence in and the subsequent adoption of RFA devices take place.

"RFA can be used in cases where surgical resection poses too great of a risk to the patient," says Stephanie LaBelle, Analyst at MRG. "As a result, RFA increases the treatable patient population."

The US Markets for Nonvascular Interventional Radiology Devices 2008 report includes coverage of many industry competitors, including AngioDynamics, Boston Scientific, and Covidien.

About RFA Procedures

RFA is a procedure used to destroy lesions through the administration of RF energy. During an RFA procedure, the physician will insert an RF device through the skin or feed it through blood vessels to the site of the abnormality. The metal prongs of the device are then opened in order to expand the treatment area to correspond to the size of the tumor. The needle electrodes deliver RF energy to the lesion. Ions within the tissue attempt to follow the alternating current of the RF energy, thereby causing ionic agitation. Frictional heating of ions causes detrimental changes in protein structure and loss of intracellular fluids, ultimately leading to cell death.

About Millennium Research Group

Millennium Research Group , a Decision Resources, Inc. company, is the global authority on medical technology market intelligence and a leading provider of strategic information to the health care sector. Focused solely on the medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries, the company provides its clients with the benefits of its specialized industry expertise through published reports and customized consulting services.

Millennium Research Group