Cancer
Interventional radiology offers patients facing a variety of cancers treatment options that don’t require surgery. At Mount Sinai, our team of interventional radiologists treat primary cancers where the cancer originates, as well as metastatic disease, where tumors have spread to other parts of the body.
From applying extreme cold to freeze tumors, to starving tumors from the blood supply that allows them to grow, to inserting radioactive beads to destroy cancer cells, we use interventional radiology as an essential component in Mount Sinai’s integrated, multidisciplinary approach to cancer care.
Our Procedures
Yttrium-90 (Y90) Radioembolization for Liver Tumors
Patients with primary liver cancer, as well as patients whose cancer has spread to the liver, can benefit from Y90 radioembolization. With this procedure, the Mount Sinai team of interventional radiologists inserts a thin tube, or catheter, into an artery in the groin. Once the catheter reaches the liver, our physicians implant tiny glass beads through the catheter directly into the tumor. These beads contain the radioactive isotope Yttrium-90, which destroys the tumor cells. This technique allows our physicians to deliver a high dose of radiation directly to the cancer without subjecting healthy tissue to the radiation.Chemoembolization for Liver Tumors
Much like Y90 radioembolization, Mount Sinai’s interventional radiologists also treat liver tumors with chemoembolization. With both procedures, our physicians insert a thin tube, or catheter, into an artery in the groin or in the wrist, and push the tube up to the liver and into a tumor. With chemoembolization, our doctors deliver a powerful dose of chemotherapy drugs directly to the tumor. In addition, at Mount Sinai, we use a second medicine to seal off arteries that provide blood flow to the tumor so it can grow. The combination of chemotherapy and starving the tumor of its blood supply can dramatically shrink tumors.
In addition, at Mount Sinai, we are exploring the use of chemoembolization to treat tumors in other parts of the body beside the liver.
Bone Tumor Percutaneous Ablation
When certain types of cancers spread, they often spread to bones. This is especially common in advanced breast cancer and advanced prostate cancer. And when tumors form in bones, they can produce significant pain that cannot easily be eliminated with drugs.
For cancer patients at Mount Sinai who have bone tumors, our use of a percutaneous ablation technique can dramatically reduce pain for a long period of time. Like most interventional radiology procedures, our physicians use imaging to guide the placement of a probe to the precise spot where a bone tumor is causing pain. Then, we deliver microwaves through the probe to heat up and destroy the nearby tumor tissue to provide pain relief.
Renal Angiomyolipoma Embolization
Angiomyolipoma is technically not cancer, but rather, it is a benign tumor that forms in the kidney made up of fat, blood vessels, and even muscle. These benign tumors can cause extreme discomfort and can even be life threatening if the tumor bursts within the kidney and causes bleeding. So, we seek to eliminate them with renal angiomyolipoma embolization.
Our Mount Sinai interventional radiologists insert a thin tube, or catheter, through a tiny incision in the patient’s thigh or wrist, and then, using image guidance, push the catheter into the angiomyolipoma. Then, they apply embolizing agents, which are chemicals that cause the blood vessels to close up and seal off blood supply that feeds the tumor. After a relatively short time, the angiomyolipoma dies because it does not receive the blood flow necessary to keep it alive.
Kidney, Liver, and Lung Tumor Percutaneous Microwave and Cryoablation
The team of interventional radiologists at Mount Sinai apply new types of ablation techniques to destroy tumors in the kidney, liver, and lungs. For some time, we’ve used radiation and chemotherapy drugs to destroy liver tumors. We also have additional tools to treat these tumors, including the delivery of heat generated from microwaves and extreme cold (cryoablation) to destroy tumors.
Like most interventional radiology procedures, our physicians use imaging to see inside the patient’s body as they insert a thin probe into the site of a tumor in the liver, kidney, or lung. Then, they destroy the tumor with either heat generated by microwaves, or extreme cold, which freezes the cancer cells.
Both methods result in tumor death and can be an effective way to treat primary tumors and metastatic tumors, which are tumors that have spread to areas of the body beyond the original cancer.
Percutaneous Mass Biopsy and Bone Marrow Biopsy
Mount Sinai’s interventional radiologists can use CT imaging to insert a long needle into almost any mass or lesion and then extract a sample for our pathologists to analyze under a microscope. This minimally-invasive method allows our physicians to biopsy tissue from almost any part of the body, including bones, without having to perform surgery.
Our Physicians
Andres Krauthamer, MD
- Vascular & Interventional Radiology
- Mount Sinai Medical Center (Main Campus)
- 305.674.2071
Joseph J Titano, MD
- Vascular & Interventional Radiology
- Radiology
- Mount Sinai Medical Center (Main Campus)
- 305.674.2121
Adam R Zybulewski, MD
- Vascular & Interventional Radiology
- Mount Sinai Medical Center (Main Campus)
- 305.674.2071
- Mount Sinai Emergency Center, Physician Offices, Cancer Center and Diagnostic Center Aventura
- 305.692.1072
Michael A Rogoff, MD
- Radiology
- Vascular & Interventional Radiology
- Mount Sinai Medical Center (Main Campus)
- 305.674.2121