A heat-based technique called “CT-guided radiofrequency ablation” was almost 100 percent successful in destroying small malignant kidney tumors in a study of more than 100 patients, new research shows.

Radiofrequency ablation has been used successful in liver tumors since the early 1990s. A needle-like treatment probe, guided by computer tomography (CT), is inserted into the tumor where it emits a high-frequency alternating current. The current heats the tumor tissue and destroys it. Radiofrequency ablation is an outpatient procedure in which the patient is sedated but conscious, and a local anesthetic is used at the puncture site.

The technique targeted tumors ranging in size from 0.6 centimeters to 8.8 centimeters in size. A total of 125 tumors in 104 patients were treated between 2000 and 2006. Of the 95 tumors that were smaller than 3.7 cm, all were completely eradicated by a single treatment, the researchers reported .

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