Certain cancers can now be frozen inside your body. Yes, you heard it right. In what could be a significant leap in minimally invasive oncology, Liverpool Hospital in Australia’s Sydney has claimed to have introduced an MRI-guided cryoablation system to treat cancer affected organs. The state-of-the-art technology allows doctors to freeze and destroy tumours deep inside the body with pinpoint precision.
The development comes at a time when cancer care is shifting towards precision-based, organ-preserving and patient-friendly treatments. This advanced treatment option offers patients with certain tumours a less invasive alternative to conventional surgery.
At the Sydney-based tertiary care centre, doctors are using advanced real-time MRI imaging to guide thin cryoprobes loaded with highly compressed argon gas directly into tumours. As the gas rapidly expands, it causes an extreme drop in temperature, often plunging to as low as -180°C, rupturing cancer cells through ice crystal formation and vascular damage during freeze-thaw cycles.
This procedure creates an ‘ice ball’ around the tumour, said Dr Mukurdipi Ray, professor of surgical oncology at AIIMS-Delhi. “The intense cold freezes cancer cells, causing them to rupture and die. MRI imaging allows doctors to continuously monitor the size and spread of the ice ball, ensuring that the tumour is fully covered while protecting surrounding healthy tissues. This minimally invasive method targets solid tumours effectively, with patients often discharged within 24 hours in a stark contrast to weeks of recovery after conventional surgery,” he said.
What is Cryoablation?
Cryoablation, also known as cryotherapy or cryosurgery, is a localised cancer treatment that uses extreme cold produced by liquid nitrogen or argon gas to destroy abnormal or malignant tissue. This technique can be used both externally (for skin cancers) and internally (for tumours inside the body).
For internal cancers, cryoprobes (specialised, thin needle like surgical instruments) are inserted by using imaging guidance such as ultrasound, CT, or MRI, which helps limit damage to nearby healthy tissue. As the gas flows through the cryoprobe, the doctor places it directly on the tumour.
Sometimes, more than one cryoprobe is used to freeze different parts of the tumour. Once frozen, cancer cells lose structural integrity and die. Over time, the body naturally breaks down and absorbs the destroyed tissue, which is then eliminated as waste. For skin cancers, treated areas typically form a scab that falls off as healthy skin regenerates underneath.
The new minimally invasive treatment is all set to change the cancer care landscape, said Dr Ashwin KR, head of surgical oncology at Aster Whitefield Hospital, Bengaluru. Unlike traditional open surgery, MRI-guided cryoablation allows doctors to clearly see the tumour and monitor the ice ball as it forms, ensuring complete treatment while minimising damage to surrounding organs, he said.
Cryoablation can be combined with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy or surgery. The malignant tissue treated with cryotherapy helps reduce the risk that the tumour will come back. One of its major advantages is that it can be repeated multiple times in the same region with minimal damage to surrounding tissues which is crucial in recurrent cancers.
“As the procedure requires only small punctures rather than large incisions, it typically results in less blood loss, reduced postoperative pain, shorter hospital stays and faster recovery. Cryoablation can be repeated if required and can serve both curative and palliative intent depending on the stage and spread of the disease,” said Dr Manas Ranjan Kar, senior international radiologist at Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar.
“Clinical studies have shown promising results, particularly in small kidney tumours, prostate lesions, and selected soft-tissue tumours. Research demonstrates good local tumour control, low complication rates and shorter recovery times compared to conventional surgery,” said Dr Ashwin.
In countries like Australia and the US, MRI-guided cryoablation can cost anywhere between $10,000 and $25,000 (approximately ₹10 lakh to ₹25 lakh), depending on the organ treated and hospital infrastructure, including advanced MRI suites, specialised cryoprobes and trained interventional radiology teams.
In India, cryoablation is available in select tertiary cancer centres and corporate hospitals, including Apollo, Max Healthcare, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, Fortis, Aster Hospital, Yashoda and CK Birla for cancers such as liver, kidney, breast, sarcomas and bone tumours. Costs range from ₹2.5 lakh to ₹6 lakh per session, depending on tumour type and complexity, generally lower than many robotic or extensive surgical procedures.