CRYOSURGERY FOR CANCER - AN EVALUATION

It is generally agreed that considerable palliation of distressing symptoms caused by incurable cancer may be achieved by cryosurgery, even when other methods have failed or cannot be used. Freezing reduces tumor bulk, lessens drainage and odor, controls pain, and relieves bleeding and obstruction in a large variety of neoplasms. When cryosurgery is considered as a method of curing cancer, there is ample reason to be cautious. Few physicians will disagree with its use for inoperable radioresistant tumors or for lesions in which conventional methods have failed. Occasionally very good results, even reasonable chance of cure, have been achieved under these conditions. Cryosurgery is not commonly used as a primary method of cancer therapy, although it does offer advantages for high surgical risk patients and for cancers in accessible areas such as the skin and oral cavity. Excellent results have been achieved in skin cancer. In oral cancer, cryosurgery affords the possibility of avoiding the disability and deformity caused by resection of bone. Experience with pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer as well as with bone tumors is too small to permit judgment now, but in these areas it is apparent that improvements in technique and equipment are needed. © 1969.