Radiofrequency Ablation for Cancer

Radiofrequency Ablation
for Lung Cancer

Radiofrequency ablation may be an alternative nonsurgical treatment for carefully selected patients who have cancers that are limited in size (less than 3 cm in diameter) and few in number (one or two). Tumors should be separate from vital structures in the body for this treatment to be considered. RF ablation is offered at Mayo Clinic in Florida and Minnesota.

RF ablation may help lung cancer patients who are not candidates for traditional surgery due to advanced disease in the lungs, poor cardiac function and/or poor pulmonary function. It may be offered to lung cancer patients after they have been evaluated by a thoracic surgeon and a radiation oncologist for other therapies.