For Immediate Release: May 12, 2009

Contact: Brian Reardon (217) 544-6464, ext. 44306 brian.reardon@st-johns.org

St. John’s using new ablation therapy to treat cancer

SPRINGFIELD, IL – St. John’s Hospital radiologist Saad Naseer, MD, has performed the first microwave radiofrequency liver ablation (MRFA) in Illinois south of Chicago. RFA is a minimally invasive treatment for cancer that uses heat to destroy abnormal cells. During the ablation process, high-frequency electrical currents are passed through a needle electrode into a cancerous tumor. The heat then targets cancer cells to obliterate them.

MRFA can be used to treat cancers in the bones and liver, said Dr. Naseer. In some cases MRFA is an alternative treatment to surgical intervention, and can be an option that replaces or accompanies chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Dr. Naseer said a major advantage for some cancer patients is the ability to treat malignant lesions without the use of chemotherapy or radiation. Cancerous liver lesions, for example, will respond to MRFA because it generates higher heats faster. For this reason, lesions near the portal vein, which are traditionally difficult to reach because of the proximity to the vein, can be treated. “With MRFA we are able to treat cancerous lesions that cannot be addressed through surgery or chemotherapy,” said Dr. Naseer.

Other factors that can qualify a liver or bone cancer patient for MRFA include: tumors in areas difficult to reach; additional medical conditions that make surgery risky; tumors that have not responded to chemotherapy or returned after surgical removal or numerous small tumors too spread out to be surgically removed.

Dr. Naseer is fellowship-trained in musculoskeletal imaging from the University of Chicago. He has experience in managing pain related to the joints and spine, with special expertise in MR imaging and vertebroplasty/kyphoplasty.

To contact Dr. Naseer, call (217) 544-6464, ext. 47806.