Bipolar Radiofrequency Induced Thermotherapeutic Volumetric Reduction of VX2 Metastases in an Animal Model

Abstract

Background: Radiofrequency-induced thermotherapy has shown promising results in the palliative treatment of various tumor entities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of bipolar radiofrequency volumetric tissue reduction (VTR) on lymph node (LN) metastases in the VX2 SCC model. Materials and Methods: Six male New Zealand white rabbits, with palpable metastatic disease within the parotid lymph nodes, were treated using the Celon-ProSurge® probe, needle length 110 mm, diameter of 2.3 mm. The animals were sacrificed on the 4th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 18th and 22nd postoperative days respectively. Results and Conclusion: Bipolar radiofrequency VTR could prevent progression of local metastatic disease in one-third of the animals compared to the control group of untreated VX2 carcinoma rabbits. These results encourage further studies, directed at whether this treatment modality could play a role in the palliative therapy of metastatic LN. Future studies should concentrate on the refinement of the treatment parameters and optimization of the treatment duration.