http://www.or-live.com/WFUBMC/1999 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Studies of patients with kidney cancer have shown that radiofrequency ablation, a minimally invasive, kidney-sparing procedure, can be a successful treatment option for patients whose cancer has not spread beyond the kidney. The treatment uses computed tomography for guidance during percutaneous placement of a needle-shaped electrode into the tumor. Radiofrequency current is then passed through the electrode to heat the tumor tissue and ablate – or eliminate – it. In the majority of patients complete tumor ablation can be achieved after a single treatment; others achieved complete tumor ablation after two or more treatments, with no long-term or serious complications. "This is significant and encouraging because the incidence of kidney cancer in the United States has increased by 126 percent over the past 50 years," said Ronald J. Zagoria, professor of Radiologic Sciences at Wake Forest Baptist and a...