Radiation Oncology/RT Techniques/Cryotherapy
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- Cryotherapy, also called cryosurgery, uses extreme cold to freeze and kill cancer cells
- It's also used to control pain and control bleeding
- All cells, including cancer cells, contain water. When cryotherapy freezes the cells, the water turns to ice crystals
- These ice crystals, along with the cold itself, destroy the cancer cells
- Cryotherapy is used to regularly treat certain cancers and other lesions
- For example, dermatologists apply liquid nitrogen directly to the skin to kill certain early-stage skin cancers and other skin lesions that could potentially turn into cancer (called pre-cancerous lesions)
- Cryotherapy also is used to treat some forms of cervical, prostate, and bone cancer
- When cryotherapy is used to treat cancers in the body, one or more small needles, called cryoprobes, deliver either liquid nitrogen or argon gas directly to the cancer tissue
- Ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to put the cryoprobes in exactly the right place
- People who have cryotherapy usually get a local anesthetic in the area where the cryoprobes will be inserted as well as a mild sedative