Outstanding Hungarian Success in Cancer Treatment

The results of a Hungarian medical research could revolutionize the treatment of thyroid cancer in East-Central Europe; with the new, incision-free procedure, Hungary could play a leading role in medical innovation, the Premier Med Health, Education and Research Institute and Semmelweis University, which are participating in the research, told MTI.

They said that several years of research conducted by the university and the institute's staff to develop a new, minimally invasive treatment method for certain thyroid tumors had been successfully concluded.

As a result of the study, Hungary is the first country in the region to offer a technology without incision (open surgery), which not only provides patients with a faster and less risky cure, but also preserves the function of the thyroid gland. The alternative treatment technology is available in private care and publicly funded at Semmelweis University.

In the statement, Ákos Pál Deák, chief interventional radiologist, pointed out that the thermal treatment technology, radiofrequency ablation (RFA), was first and only in recent years used by Premier Med in East-Central Europe for benign thyroid nodules and is now also being used successfully for malignant thyroid tumors.

The technique involves using a thin needle to puncture a cancerous tumor in the thyroid gland, monitored by ultrasound, heating the tissue and the heat generated destroys the abnormal cells without damaging the thyroid gland. After the procedure, patients do not need hormone replacement therapy, complications are significantly reduced and recovery is much faster.

The safety of the treatment has been studied in papillary thyroid cancers less than one centimeter in size. This is the most common primary malignant thyroid tumor, so it is vital to treat it quickly and safely, the doctor added.