Rita Medical: Radiofrequency ablation combined with doxorubicin increases effect of tumor treatment

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, June 6 - RITA Medical Systems, Inc. announced Tuesday that pilot clinical trial data on the treatment of primary liver cancer using the company's radiofrequency ablation technology in combination with arterial embolization using Biocompatibles International plc's DC Bead with doxorubicin substantially increases the effect of radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of large tumors.

RITA Medical radiofrequency ablation instruments were used in the study, according to a company news release.

Data from this trial were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Atlanta.

Preliminary data in the study show that arterial embolization with doxorubicin substantially increases the effect of radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of large tumors.

Last month RITA Medical announced a three-year agreement for the exclusive distribution of Biocompatibles' LC Bead embolization bead in the United States and Canada.

The company said the product to be distributed in the United States is the same as the DC Bead, which is distributed in Europe.

"The ability to treat larger tumors through a combined therapeutic approach could open new prospects in the treatment of liver cancer by expanding the indication for radiofrequency ablation far beyond its current limits," Riccardo Lencioni, medical director of the department of diagnostic and interventional radiology at the University of Pisa, said in the release.

In the pilot clinical trial, 10 patients with primary liver cancer tumors greater than 3 centimeters in size were first treated with radiofrequency ablation and then immediately scheduled for doxorubicin eluting beads arterial embolization.

Arterial embolization was performed 24 hours after radiofrequency ablation using DC Bead.

On CT and MRI-scans, using this sequential treatment approach, the mean increase in the volume of coagulation necrosis was 64.2% compared to tumors treated with radiofrequency ablation alone, officials said.

RITA Medical Systems, based in Fremont, Calif., makes and markets products for cancer patients.

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