RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION

WinneyPooh
WinneyPooh Member Posts: 318
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
hi, aLL
I need to know if anyone with mets to the liver has had this proceedure. I went to my surg. to discuss the up coming surgery and , i asked him about alternatives because i really donot feel good about the surgery, my liver spot is only 2.4 cm and I have been reading they can treat this with this proceedure but they don't call it (cureative) like they do with the surgery, but liver surgery is so invasive and there is all the risk and the recovery time and possible infection and death, and I almost would rather take my chances.

Anybody who had this done or know anything more please let me know

Thanks
Winney

Comments

  • Sundanceh
    Sundanceh Member Posts: 4,392 Member
    #2
    RFA
    Mornin' Winney

    I had met to the liver - 9cm.

    We did RFA on me to get that one - Dec2007. Due to the location of the tumor (near blood vessels) they went as far as they could and thought they got it all. Subsequent MRI showed outer remanants of the tumor remaining...so we did CyberKnife for 3 treatments and cleaned that all up - and so far my liver has been clear in the scans. So getting close to 2 years now, so I'd say it was just as successful.

    In fact, the statistics show that RFA is just as effective as a liver resection in terms of odds. Surgery is always considered the Gold Standard. But RFA is an alternative choice to resection and sometimes the primary choice for people that don't qualify for a liver resection. Truthfully, only about 10% of the population is even a candidate for liver resection surgery.

    I was originally a liver resection candidate - opened me up and found my liver was too fatty and that 80% removal of my liver would have resulted in liver failure and I would have died on the operating table...my surgeon quickly decided to to the RFA route - and I'm still here because of it - so I believe in RFA. Mine was an open procedure due to the size of the tumor.

    Let me know if you have any more questions - be glad to tell you what I know :)

    -Craig
  • ittapp
    ittapp Member Posts: 383 Member
    #3
    My Dr. wants to avoid
    My Dr. wants to avoid surgery and go the RFA route...did not say when, it seems as though he is waiting on tumors to shrink. I do not know what this entales. Is it surgery? is it done on an outpatient procedure or are you hospitalized? let me know what you know about it. I wish you luck with your decision. I am not at that point as of yet. It's scary to have the Drs. making all of the decisions on our life. I am looking to get a second opinion when I get a medicade card.Just got approved for medicade spindown (still have a huge monthly deductible but they pay the Drs.)Anyway too much info sorry. God Bless you, Patti
  • WinneyPooh
    WinneyPooh Member Posts: 318
    #4
    ittapp said:

    My Dr. wants to avoid
    My Dr. wants to avoid surgery and go the RFA route...did not say when, it seems as though he is waiting on tumors to shrink. I do not know what this entales. Is it surgery? is it done on an outpatient procedure or are you hospitalized? let me know what you know about it. I wish you luck with your decision. I am not at that point as of yet. It's scary to have the Drs. making all of the decisions on our life. I am looking to get a second opinion when I get a medicade card.Just got approved for medicade spindown (still have a huge monthly deductible but they pay the Drs.)Anyway too much info sorry. God Bless you, Patti

    What I Know
    Pattie,
    what i know is what i have read on the internet, www.radiologyinfo/.org/en/info.cfm?pg=rfa
    look there. but to me it seems like the choice i want to make eventhough my doctors want to do the resection. I am a big scardy cat and i donot want to be opened up like that. I am really active and i have have to two teenagers and a husband that is disabled on dialysis and i know if i am in bed for more than acouple of days all hell will break loose here and i will be complelled to get in the middle and start doing things i should not do, because like you know if we donot do them who else will,.

    I have never been down from surgery ecept for the two c-section of my kid and the day i got home with my son, my dad and my husband wanted to know what was for dinner!!

    I hope your progressing well and i wish i knew what to do.

    Craig, thanks for your input, Hopefully more who have had this proceedure will commet in, t

    Hugs
    Winney
  • robinvan
    robinvan Member Posts: 1,012
    #5
    RFA
    Hi Pooh-Bear,

    I had RFA done to eliminate a small met from my liver in March 2007. This was subsequent to a liver resection in October 2004. The RFA was very effective and I've had no problems since. It seems to have gotten all of the tumour. I had 4 months of xeloda/irinotecan/avastin to mop up after.

    In my case the RFA was administered in open surgery so I still had all of the surgical recovery to deal with. You can find a little more on my "Cancer Journal"... http://rob-pollock.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-is-rfa.html

    TTFN... Rob; in Vancouver

    “Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.”
    Winnie the Pooh
  • ADKer
    ADKer Member Posts: 147
    #6
    robinvan said:

    RFA
    Hi Pooh-Bear,

    I had RFA done to eliminate a small met from my liver in March 2007. This was subsequent to a liver resection in October 2004. The RFA was very effective and I've had no problems since. It seems to have gotten all of the tumour. I had 4 months of xeloda/irinotecan/avastin to mop up after.

    In my case the RFA was administered in open surgery so I still had all of the surgical recovery to deal with. You can find a little more on my "Cancer Journal"... http://rob-pollock.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-is-rfa.html

    TTFN... Rob; in Vancouver

    “Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.”
    Winnie the Pooh

    RFA
    Pooh-Bear -

    I attended the recent Liver Symposium in Denver. RFA is most effective on tumors less than 3cm in size and when there are no veins or arteries in proximity to minimize the effectiveness of the super-heating RFA procedure. When RFA is performed under circumstances other than the above, the tumor eventually recurrs 80% of the time. Depending on the location of your tumor, your circumstances may be optimal for RFA due to the size of the tumor.

    Personally, I had resection of more than 70% of my liver. It was difficult surgery and took me 3-4 months to recover. However, now, almost 11 months later, I feel fine and would do it again in a heartbeat if that was what it took for me to survive.

    Best wishes to you.
  • Sundanceh
    Sundanceh Member Posts: 4,392 Member
    #7
    ADKer said:

    RFA
    Pooh-Bear -

    I attended the recent Liver Symposium in Denver. RFA is most effective on tumors less than 3cm in size and when there are no veins or arteries in proximity to minimize the effectiveness of the super-heating RFA procedure. When RFA is performed under circumstances other than the above, the tumor eventually recurrs 80% of the time. Depending on the location of your tumor, your circumstances may be optimal for RFA due to the size of the tumor.

    Personally, I had resection of more than 70% of my liver. It was difficult surgery and took me 3-4 months to recover. However, now, almost 11 months later, I feel fine and would do it again in a heartbeat if that was what it took for me to survive.

    Best wishes to you.

    20% Right Over Here :)
    Well, AdKer

    I'm going to hope that I'm in the 20% bracket then.

    I'm a couple of weeks away from 21 months after my RFA and liver still is clear thankfully.

    I've heard if you can get 2 years out, then it's most likely not to come back there, so that is the plan.

    I'm currently not resectable, so hopefully this works.

    Does the information that you have give you a timeframe for recurrence?

    I can tell you that they did predict (they 3 doctors: oncologist, surgeon, liver specialist) that I would have cancer back in my liver - GUARANTEED within one year. But I'm 9 months past that.

    Anyway, an interesting perspective and I intend to prove everyone wrong.

    Nice to meet you BTW...I've read your posts but I guess have not formerly said hello :)

    -Craig
  • ADKer
    ADKer Member Posts: 147
    #8
    Sundanceh said:

    20% Right Over Here :)
    Well, AdKer

    I'm going to hope that I'm in the 20% bracket then.

    I'm a couple of weeks away from 21 months after my RFA and liver still is clear thankfully.

    I've heard if you can get 2 years out, then it's most likely not to come back there, so that is the plan.

    I'm currently not resectable, so hopefully this works.

    Does the information that you have give you a timeframe for recurrence?

    I can tell you that they did predict (they 3 doctors: oncologist, surgeon, liver specialist) that I would have cancer back in my liver - GUARANTEED within one year. But I'm 9 months past that.

    Anyway, an interesting perspective and I intend to prove everyone wrong.

    Nice to meet you BTW...I've read your posts but I guess have not formerly said hello :)

    -Craig

    RFA
    Hi Craig -

    Nice to meet you also BTW. 80% is NOT 100%. I also hope that you are in the 20%. My house is chaotic right now and I cannot find the name of the Dr. who gave the stat. He did seem knowledgeable. He did not give a time frame and I did not ask whether the percentages improve with the passage of time without a recurrence. My strong impression is that surgery is preferable, if possible, which was the question that I was trying to respond to. I hope that you continue to do well.

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