Published on
Updated
Reading 2 mins.
For the first time in France, a new technique for the ablation of lung cancer has just been successfully carried out. It took place on December 6 at the Institut mutualiste Montsouris, in Paris. It involves the ablation of a pulmonary metastasis by microwaves, carried out by the endobronchial route with guidance under scanner. Explanations from Dr. Agathe Seguin-Givelet, head of the thoracic surgery department at IMM.
When it comes to cancer care, doctors are constantly looking to improve their techniques. In the context of the management of lung cancer, the technique of thermo-ablation by microwaves already exists. “The difference is that it is usually performed under CT guidance and percutaneously. This time, the approach is natural, we went through the patient’s bronchi“says first of all Dr Agathe Seguin-Givelet, head of the thoracic surgery department of the Institut mutualiste Montsouris, part of the Institut du Thorax Curie.
A first in France
The operation has already been carried out in Hong Kong and London. For this French premiere, the London specialist was present to support the IMM team. “For this first multidisciplinary operation, we were lucky to have Dr. Kelvin Lau, who came straight from London, where around fifty similar operations have already taken place, by our side” adds the specialist, who specifies that the operation went very well and that the patient was able to return to her home the next day.
Coverage for certain lesions only
The operation therefore took place on December 6, at the Institut Montsouris, involving a multidisciplinary team made up of interventional radiologists, pulmonologists, oncologists and thoracic surgeons. The patient was a woman affected by digestive cancer and treated for lung metastasis.
“This ablation technique applies to patients affected by lung cancer – or metastasis – located on the periphery of the lung or shallowly in the lung tissue. A lesion for which surgical treatment is not possible – due to a particular history, for example – and which cannot benefit from radiotherapy either. explains Dr. Seguin-Givelet.
A new technique for treating certain lung tumors was successfully performed for the first time in France at the hybrid block of the#IMM on December 6th. #Thread ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/8xeSyJ30uy
— IM MONTSOURIS (@IMMontsouris) December 19, 2022
Once the patient is anesthetized, the surgeon places the ablation probe through the natural pathways of the respiratory tree, under image guidance. “Interventional radiologists have really mastered this imaging navigation technique because it is regularly performed percutaneously (through the skin, editor’s note), with powerful and efficient imaging to guide them. This time, ultra -modern also helped us, by reducing complications (haemorrhage, peneumothorax, bronchopleural fistula, etc.) for the patient by eliminating the approach” says the surgeon again.
“Then, once at the metastasis, the thermo ablation technique consists of inducing a rise in temperature of the cells until they die, the objective being to make the lesion disappear with a sufficient margin around“says the expert.
How many patients will be affected by this technique?
Regarding the number of patients potentially concerned by this technique, Dr. Seguin-Givelet has no figure to put forward. However, it emphasizes that during multidisciplinary consultation meetings (RCP), on average one out of two patients presents an indication of this procedure, which until now has been performed percutaneously. But for her, “the objective is to master the gesture well above all“.