Biological therapy

Biological therapies are treatments that can control or stop the growth of cancer cells. Some types of biological therapy can treat advanced non-small cell lung cancer. They include erlotinib (Tarceva),gefitinib (Iressa), crizotinib (Xalkori) and afatinib (Giotrif).

Radiofrequency ablation for lung cancer

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) uses heat made by radio waves to kill cancer cells. Radiofrequency is a type of electrical energy.  Ablation means destroying completely.  The electrical energy heats up the tumour and kills the cancer cells.

You have RFA under local anaesthetic or general anaesthetic . You have it through a small probe (like a needle) that goes through the skin of your chest and directly into the tumour.  Doctors call this percutaneous RFA. Percutaneous means through the skin.  The treatment is usually done under CT scan guidance so that the doctor can make sure the probe is in exactly the right place. An electrode in the probe then creates radiofrequency energy to produce heat and destroy the tumour tissue.

Photodynamic therapy for lung cancer

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) uses a photosensitising drug combined with a laser light to destroy cancer cells.  It may be used for people with small early stage non -small cell lung cancer who don't want to have conventional surgery. It can also be used for people who can't have surgery for one of the following reasons:

• There are tumours in both lungs;
• Other medical conditions make having a general anaesthetic impossible;
• The cancer has come back in the lung after previous surgery.

In the first step, your doctor injects a photosensitising drug into your bloodstream.  Cells all over the body absorb the drug but it stays in cancer cells longer than in normal cells.  The drug makes the cells sensitive to laser light.  In the second step, a few days later, you go into the clinic. Under local anaesthetic orgeneral anaesthetic, you have a bronchoscopy . The doctor puts a tube down the bronchoscope that shines a very bright light at the tumour.  The light triggers the drug to destroy the cancer cells.  The PDT also seems to shrink tumours by damaging blood vessels in the tumour so that it can't get the nutrients it needs.  You need to have another bronchoscopy 48 hours later to remove the damaged tissue from the area where the tumour was.  This is called debridement.

Cryotherapy for lung cancer

Cryotherapy is also called cryosurgery or cryoablation.  It is a way of killing cancer cells by freezing them.  Doctors can use cryotherapy as a treatment for people with advanced lung cancer.

You have a general anaesthetic or a drug to make you drowsy.  Then your doctor puts a flexible tube called a bronchoscope down your throat and into the airway.

The doctor puts a probe called a cryoprobe down the bronchoscope.  The probe freezes part of the tumour.  The doctor then allows the area to thaw just enough for the cryoprobe to come away from the tissue.  Your doctor may repeat these 2 or 3 times in that area. They then move the cryoprobe along to freeze the next area.

Your doctor repeats the process until they have treated the whole area of cancer. They remove as much of the tissue as possible using forceps or the cryoprobe.

If the tumour starts to grow again and causes another blockage, you can have cryotherapy treatment again.