By Ari Yashar, INN
Israeli company IceCure, developer of a treatment for breast tumors by freezing them into ice, is currently attempting to expand its technique into the treatment of lung cancer.
The site NoCamels reported Wednesday that the biomedical company specializing in cryoablation, a process of destroying diseased cells by freezing, will soon conduct its first clinical trials in Japan using the same technology on lung tumors.
President and CEO Hezi Himelfarb noted that the study is fully funded by the Kameda Medical Center in Japan.
According to the company’s website, the “IceSense3 system” is currently a minimally invasive, in-office treatment for symptomatic breast tumors, known as fibroadenomas. The procedure uses ultrasound imaging to guide a small probe, namely a thin hollow needle, into the tumor.
The end of the needle is then cooled to -274 F (-170 C) using liquid nitrogen, turning the tumor into a ball of ice and allowing the body to reabsorb the dead cells over time.
Requiring only local anaesthetic, the procedure is safe and can be performed in just 10 to 15 minutes. Furthermore the process leaves behind no scarring.
In June Globes reported that IceCure’s share price rocketed nearly 300 percent in two days after announcing that the American medical insurance company HCSC would provide coverage from June 15 for its IceSense3 procedure.
If the Japanese trials to apply the technology to lung cancer yield success, Himelfarb says it will “open the possibility to enter a huge market with hundreds of thousands of new cases every year.”
According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading killer among cancers in the US.
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