Encouraged by quick recovery after cryoablation for kidney cancer
When David Stanley discovered he had kidney cancer, the news came on a day meant for celebration. Yet what followed was not a story of prolonged illness, but one of swift diagnosis and a rapid return to the life he loves thanks to a minimally invasive treatment option known as cryoablation.
“Finding out that I had kidney cancer on my birthday was of course a bit of a disappointment,” Stanley says, “but I was encouraged to find out at the same time there was a very hopeful treatment for it.”
David Stanley, renal cancer patient
Stanley, 75, lives in Alderney in the British Channel Islands. He and his wife are active in their local community, putting on shows to entertain people on the island. He describes himself as being “fairly fit and healthy” until he developed gallbladder problems in 2020 that led to complications and extensive surgery to his abdomen. During a scan related to those issues, doctors identified a tumour (called a renal cell carcinoma) on his right kidney. This is not an uncommon way for small kidney cancers to be picked up.
Choosing the right treatment for his renal cell carcinoma
Stanley’s case was reviewed by a multi-disciplinary team at University Hospital Southampton. While surgery was considered as one possible option, his recent abdominal procedures, with the prospect of another major operation on the horizon, meant it carried additional risks.
“Given my circumstances and the previous procedures that I’d had,” Stanley says, “cryoablation was recommended for treating my kidney cancer.”
Cryoablation involves using a hollow probe or catheter, guided by medical imaging, to deliver extremely cold gas to freeze and destroy the tumour while leaving the surrounding tissue intact.
Dr Alex King, consultant radiologist at Southampton, who was part of the multi-disciplinary team who treated Stanley for his kidney cancer, says treatment decisions for small kidney tumours depend on tumour size and patient factors.
“For the very smallest tumours, we can consider a period of surveillance,” Dr King says. “Above a certain size, then we would broadly think between a surgical option or a focal therapy option.” Focal therapy is targeted cancer treatment that aims to destroy cancer cells while minimising damage to surrounding healthy tissue, offering a less invasive alternative to traditional treatments. In Stanley’s case, cryoablation, a form of focal therapy, offered an effective alternative.
Cryoablation freezes the cancer
Cryoablation is a minimally invasive treatment for kidney cancer, using very cold ice, which is around 140 degrees Celsius. “At those temperatures, ice crystals form inside the cancer cells and rupture and destroy them”, Dr King says. “After the area is thawed, it’s frozen a second time “to make sure that we get confluent cell death, but also to allow some killing off of the small blood vessels that could supply the tissue much like you would have seen in something like frostbite.”
A rapid recovery and return to life
“The procedure was straightforward,” Stanley says. “I can’t remember any discomfort from it. I recovered ever so quickly.” The treatment of his kidney cancer with cryoablation allowed Stanley to resume everyday activities without delay — including driving, spending time with family, and continuing his role in the community. “For it to have been dealt with so professionally and so quickly was marvellous.” said Stanley. As with all medical procedures, there are risks associated with cryoablation. Please talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits.
Evidence has shown that cryoablation is as effective as removing tumours via a robot-assisted surgery, including a recently published study in the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Journal. The study found cryoablation gave near-identical health benefits over a five-year period but led to shorter hospital stays for patients and a drop of almost a third in healthcare system costs. These findings align with other studies which showed comparable oncological outcomes for the two treatment options.
Burden of kidney cancer
According to the World Health Organization, close to half a million new cases of kidney cancer are reported worldwide every year, resulting in more than 150,000 deaths.
Find out more about Stanley’s experience with cryoablation by watching this video: