Holy Name Press Releases

Holy Name Hospital Physician is First in New Jersey to Perform Minimally-Invasive Treatment for Lung Cancer

January 10, 2006

A Holy Name Hospital patient is the first individual in New Jersey to be treated with radio-frequency ablation (RFA) for her non-resectable lung cancer.  RFA, a minimally-invasive non-surgical Interventional Radiology procedure, involves the insertion of a specialized small needle through the skin and into a tumor under CT scan guidance, allowing the precise delivery of radio-frequency energy (similar to microwaves) to heat cancer tissue and destroy it.

Karen Mattaliano is the 33-year-old patient who underwent RFA in December at Holy Name Hospital's Interventional Institute.  The procedure was performed by Dr. John H. Rundback, a board-certified interventional radiologist and Medical Director of the Interventional Institute, with over 12 years of experience in the minimally invasive treatment of cancer using radio-frequency ablation and other interventional oncology techniques.  

For people with lung cancer, Dr. Rundback declares, "If you think you've run out of choices, think again."

Mrs. Mattaliano, who lives in Middlesex County, NJ, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2001. The disease spread to her liver and lungs, and she underwent multiple surgeries, as well as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

"My doctors told me I couldn't keep having surgeries, and I didn't want to go through another operation," says Mattaliano. "Radio-frequency ablation was something new, something less traumatic, but equally effective."  

As a precisely administered, localized treatment, RFA spares nearby healthy lung tissue and is tolerated much easier than systemic therapy. It can, however, be used in combination with these therapies, as in Mattaliano's case. She is undergoing a seven-week regime of radiation therapy at Holy Name as part of her overall treatment plan.

Every weekday, Mattaliano drives from her home in Old Bridge to Holy Namea 45- to 60-minute commutefor radiation appointments and to consult with Holy Name's radiation oncologist Charles Vialotti, M.D., and medical oncologist Louis Attas, M.D.  Heartened by her physicians' collaborative spirit, she says, "I wouldn't switch doctors. Every one is phenomenal."

Radio-frequency ablation emerged in the early 1990s and is now regularly used to treat liver, kidney and bone malignancies. Dr. Rundback cites data that shows the destructive capability of RFA for these cancers is comparable to that of other therapies. Furthermore, patient survival is improved because of the low local cancer recurrence rate following RFA.

"RFA is especially suited to patients who have limited surgical options, either due to an increased surgical risk from underlying emphysema or heart disease, or in instances of cancer recurrence when patients can't or don't want to undergo more surgery, as in Karen's case," says Dr. Rundback.  

RFA may also be appropriate for patients with advanced lung cancer to reduce the tumor size prior to receiving other therapies.  Since RFA is not a surgical procedure, it can be repeated without serious side effects in most patients. Dr. Rundback also notes a growing trend toward lung cancer screening, which may lead to the discovery of small lesions prior to developing any symptoms.

"It will be interesting in the future to determine the role of RFA in treating screening-detected early stage cancer, for which we expect RFA to be particularly effective," he says.

When asked why no physician in New Jersey has applied RFA to lung tumors until now, Dr. Rundback asserts, "There have to be people in the medical community who recognize the future of established therapies and apply them in new ways. Bergen County has the good fortune of being able to extend such therapies, in this case, RFA, to its community through Holy Name Hospital."

For more information on RFA or other Interventional Radiology procedures, call the Holy Name Hospital Interventional Institute at (201) 833-3310 or the Regional Cancer Center at (201) 833-8500.