Many interventional radiology procedures can be performed on an outpatient basis or during a short hospital stay.
Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy remain the mainstays of cancer treatment, but interventional radiology continues to grow in importance as an alternative mode of therapy or an altogether new form of treatment for patients with cancer. Interventional radiology offers minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for cancer and cancer-related processes. They can often be performed at a lower cost and with less associated morbidity than other interventions. Interventional radiology techniques typically represent the least invasive definitive diagnostic or therapeutic options available for patients with cancer. Examples include pain control procedures, vertebroplasty and drainage of obstructed organs. Cancer complications can also be treated with interventional radiology techniques. Tumor ablation, gene therapy and access of central veins for treatment are performed effectively under radiographic guidance.
Transcatheter chemoembolization is a procedure that delivers a chemotherapeutic agent to a tumor along with sponge particles that have an ischemic effect on the mass. Fluid collections can also be sampled or drained using interventional radiology techniques. Because the transjugular liver biopsy obtains random samples, it is not recommended for biopsy of discrete hepatic masses. This biopsy procedure is particularly useful in patients with coagulopathies. Transjugular liver biopsy is used to diagnose hepatic parenchymal abnormalities without traversing Glisson's capsule. Interventional radiology procedures include imaging-guided biopsies to obtain samples for cytologic or pathologic testing without affecting adjacent structures. Although general interventional radiology procedures such as angiography and angioplasty are used in patients with and without cancer, certain procedures are reserved for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer or cancer-related complications. Procedures performed by an interventional radiology specialist are becoming increasingly important in the management of patients with cancer.
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