Targeted Cryoablation Shows Promise In Liver Cancer Treatment

IRVINE, CA — Aug. 6, 1998 — Study data published in the journal Cancer shows that Endocare, Inc.’s targeted cryoablation technology designed to treat liver cancer shows promise in treating the disease and may be able to prolong patient survival.

“Utilising Endocare’s unique freezing and temperature monitoring technology, we are able to apply extremely cold temperatures to targeted cancerous tissue until it has been broken down and no longer exists,” said Wilson Wong, M.D., a radiologist based at Southern California’s Alhambra Hospital and one of the study’s authors. “We are very encouraged by early data. Results show that targeted cryoablation can be effective in patients where surgical resection is not an effective option.

“In the treatment of liver cancer, targeted ablation enables us to rid the liver of more cancerous tissue while the technology’s precise targeting element allows us to spare the sections of the liver that are not cancerous.”

Because it is one of the most malignant forms of cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) is a disease that has traditionally been very difficult to treat. The reported incidence is three per 100,000 per year in the United States, rising to 30 per 100,000 internationally. Patients suffering from the disease generally have a poor prognosis. Endocare’s targeted cryoablation equipment is particularly groundbreaking because cancerous tumours of the liver usually cannot be removed surgically.

The targeted cryoablation devices used in treating liver cancer are the latest in a growing series of temperature-based technologies developed by Endocare, including similar targeted cryoablation devices that have exhibited success in treating prostate cancer.