Cryosurgery for Lung Cancer: Clinical Results and Technical Aspects

Lung carcinoma is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy in the world, with the incidence increasing through the 20th century. Presentation may be as a tumor mass primarily obstructing the central bronchial lumen, or a mass infiltrating lung tissue. Cryosurgery can be used as a method of palliative treatment for both these endobronchial and extra-bronchial presentations. The aim of this study is two-fold: to present data relating to our extensive experience in treating obstructing endobronchial tumors and to present our initial results of direct cryosurgery to infiltrating lung tumor masses. During a nine-year period, 521 consecutive patients (male:female ratio 1.8:1) with a mean age of 67.9 years who had advanced obstructive tracheobronchial malignant tumors underwent cryosurgery with a mean of 2.4 treatments per patient. Hemoptysis, cough, dyspnoea and chest pain improved by at least one class in 76.4%, 69.0%, 59.25% and 42.6% (p