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Freezing The Deadly Spread Of Cancer

Martin Pinto's kidney was saved after treatment with targeted cryoblation, an innovative procedure that freezes cancer cells and destroys tumors. Dr. Peter Littrup was among the first physicians in the country to use Endocare's CRYOcare System for such treatments.

Last fall, Dr. Peter Littrup became the first person in the country to use Endocare’s CRYOcare System to treat a lung tumor using only computed tomography guidance (CT, or “CAT scan”). With new cryoablation technology, Dr. Littrup froze a cancerous lung tumor at minus 40 degrees centigrade, a temperature cancer cells cannot survive.

Targeted cryoablation is the application of extreme cold to destroy tissue and can now be done as an outpatient procedure. Endocare Inc. produces the state-ofthe- art freezing technology that has allowed expansion of tumor treatments beyond the operating room. They also licensed their technology to Sanarus Inc. for specific breast applications, which are now undergoing Food and Drug Administration trials with Dr. Littrup as well.

Cryotherapy was previously only used within the operating room in combination with ultrasound and temperature monitoring to precisely destroy cancer cells in the liver and prostate. Percutaneous cryotherapy now offers a virtually painless alternative to radiofrequency or heat destruction of many tumors using only a needle or probe through the skin. Dr. Littrup, professor of radiology, urology and radiation oncology at Wayne State University and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, believes this new application will provide more comfortable, less-invasive treatments that will improve the quality of life, if not extend it, for cancer patients.

Dr. Littrup now performs the procedure using either ultrasound or CT to visualize the tumor and guide the procedure. Straw-thin cryoprobes are inserted in the body through tiny incisions. The cryoprobes then freeze the targeted cancer cells using pressurized argon gas. Wayne State/Karmanos researchers are currently testing cryoablation as a non-surgical alternative for patients with lung, liver, prostate and even benign breast tumors in young women.

“My relationship with Endocare and Sanarus was a natural fit,” Dr. Littrup said. Throughout the 1990s, Dr. Littrup was part of only 10 medical teams in the country per- forming hepatic cryosurgery for liver cancer treatment. He also pioneered prostate ultrasound and guided-core biopsy for a better diagnostic approach to prostate and breast masses. Dr. Littrup established PRIDE (Prostate Risk Initiative-Detection and Education) for the Michigan Department of Community Health, one of the largest early detection programs for prostate cancer in high-risk men.

Endocare Inc. develops and manufactures cryosurgical and stent technologies for applications in oncology and urology. Its initial devices have concentrated on prostate cancer, but new technologies are in development for treating tumors in the kidney, breast, lung and liver. Sanarus Medical, Inc., specializes in the development of innovative surgical devices and technologies for the treatment of tumors in women, focusing on breast tumors and gynecological diseases.

“We plan to continue our collaborations and, though we are still in early clinical stages, we’d like to see cryotherapy emerge as a comfortable, minimally-invasive adjunct – or possible alternative – to current treatments for cancer patients,” Dr. Littrup said.

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