Beebe puts the heat on tumor

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Doctors a Beebe Medical Center in Lewis have removed a tumor from a cancer patient unable to undergo surgery.
Beebe radiologist Dr.Michael Ramjattansingh performed the procedure on the liver of the patient.
“This is a huge accomplishment and revolutionizes the way we at Beebe take care of patients with tumors of the liver and biliary system,” says surgical oncologist Dr. James E. Spellman of the Division of Surgical Oncology at Beebe Physician Network. “It allows us to continually expand the medical treatment options for cancer and to improve the care that we bring to this community.”
Surgical oncologist Dr. Chia-Chi Wang had determined that the patient was not a candidate for surgery, even though the cancerous tumor needed to be removed from the liver.
The patient had serious breathing problems and other health complications that made surgery risky.
Instead, radiology was used on the tumor along with a local anesthetic.
“The patient was able to talk to me throughout the procedure,” Ramjattansingh recalled. “I wanted to make sure that he was comfortable. I told him exactly what to expect. He had no pain and went home the next day.”
Once the patient’s abdomen was numb, Dr. Ramjattansingh inserted a probe through the skin, into the liver and into the cancerous tumor itself. He was able to follow the route of the probe by watching the image on an ultrasound screen. At the end of the probe was a needle electrode. Once he positioned the electrode within the tumor, the electrode delivered a radio frequency that created so much heat that the tumor tissue was destroyed.  The healthy tissue of the liver was not affected.

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