By Sheila Dwyer, MedTech1 StaffTerri Cranmer has a new job: radiofrequency ablation (RFA) evangelist. She is doing an amazing job, considering that one year ago she, like most people, was completely unfamiliar with RFA.
In September of 2000, Cranmer was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer and given six to nine months to live, a prognosis she found unacceptable. She researched her condition on the Internet and at the library and spoke with her doctor about her options.
At the time of her diagnosis, traditional lung cancer surgery did not look like an option because her cancer had advanced too far. Her doctors could only hope to alleviate her pain and slightly prolong her life. So Cranmer took matters into her own hands and started on a diet and vitamin regimen that she thinks decreased the size of the tumor by almost 50 percent, enough for her doctors to suggest that traditional surgery might be an option in early 2001.
She tried and disliked radiation therapy because of the harsh side effects, and did not consider chemotherapy to be an alternative. “Everyone I knew who had lung cancer that had chemotherapy and all the traditional treatments were dead,” she says.
“My brother saw the article on RFA in Florida and he called me. He said, ‘I have the cure for your cancer.’” Cranmer talked to her surgeon about RFA. They were both initially skeptical but he was in favor of pursuing alternatives to traditional lung cancer surgery, which is highly invasive and requires an extensive recovery period. The surgeon assured her that if the RFA did not work, Cranmer would still be a candidate for traditional surgery later. In essence, she was not losing anything by undergoing RFA.
Cranmer flew to the University of Mississippi in Jackson for a two and a half hour procedure on a Monday morning in February and was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. She emerged with only a band-aid on her chest to show for it.
The RFA procedure is unique because the surgeon is able to destroy the tumor while viewing it on a real time CT scan. Radiofrequency energy eradicates the cancerous tissue by passing alternating electrical currents through the tissue. Agitation of the current creates heat at the site, which in turn causes cellular destruction. The FDA approved the procedure in 1997.
Cranmer has undergone several CT scans to monitor the spread of her lung cancer since the RFA procedure. The scans have revealed no new tumor growth, which is the best outcome she and her doctors can hope for. Cranmer believes RFA gave her a new lease on life. “I recommend this to anybody. You have no more guarantees with traditional surgery than you have with this, but traditional surgery is a lot more invasive.”
With RFA, there is always the possibility of having to undergo multiple treatments if new tumors develop. But Cranmer says she would be more than willing to do so. In the meantime, she monitors her health closely. She is still on the vitamin regimen and has eliminated most red meat and sugar from her diet. But Cranmer would agree that the most important step she took was asking her doctor about RFA. “When you wind up with cancer, you get educated real quick. Or you should. It pays to investigate everything.”
For more information on RFA, visit this Web site.
