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• Ablative therapies
• Regional therapies
• Supportive care
• Radiation oncology
• Surgery
Inova Center for Interventional Oncology takes pride in the innovative technology available to our patients. Some methods of treatment include:
Tumor ablations
Ablation is a minimally invasive method that destroys tumors without removing them. Ablation is often used for patients with a few small tumors when surgery is not a good option. This type of treatment may be done as an outpatient or require a brief overnight stay.
Cyroablation (percutaneous ablation)
A minimally invasive treatment option for patients whose tumors cannot be removed by surgery or are at high-risk for surgical complications. Cryoablation kills cancer cells by freezing them. A thin needle, called a cryoprobe, is inserted through the skin and into the tumor. The cryoprobe freezes tissue around it's tip to very cold temperatures, killing the tumor cells. The interventional radiologist uses imaging techniques such as CT or ultrasound to accurately guide the cryoprobe and spare healthy tissue. A tumor can usually be treated in one session, which usually takes a couple of hours and patients can usually go home the same day.
Radiofrequency ablation
A minimally invasive treatment for cancer that is used when surgery is not a good option that kills cancer cells by heating and destroying them. Physicians insert a thin needle guided by (CT) or ultrasound through the skin and into the tumor. Energy similar to radio waves delivered through this needle heats and destroys the tumor. Patients are sedated and some go home the same day.
Microwave ablation
Our team at Inova Fairfax Hospital was the first in Northern Virginia to use percutaneous microwave ablative technologies in the clinical setting. Microwave antennae are inserted into the target lesion under imaging guidance. The microwaves create a well-defined zone of thermal ablation around each antenna. Advantages of microwave ablation include less time to treat, more uniform ablation zones and less pain during and after the procedure. Most of these procedures are performed on an outpatient basis.
NanoKnife™
NanoKnife™ is a minimally invasive cancer treatment that precisely targets and kills hard-to-reach tumors. NanoKnife™ allows us to treat tumors that in the past would be virtually impossible for surgeons to operate on due to their location.
Read more about NanoKnife™ 
Transcatheter chemoembolization
Transcatheter Chemoembolization is used for the treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, the most common liver cancer. Interventional Radiologists insert drug eluting beads containing chemotherapy directly into the tumor. While the patient is under sedation, a small catheter is guided using imaging from the entry site in the groin to the blood vessels supplying the tumor. The interventional radiologist will use contrast dye and X-Ray to find the branches of the hepatic artery that are supplying blood to the tumor. Once this vessel is found, smaller catheters are inserted into the branches of the artery that are directly supplying blood to the tumor. Chemotherapy beads will then be inserted directly into the tumor. Patients usually spend one or two nights in the hospital.
Vascular access catheters and ports
Interventional radiologists insert catheters into the blood vessel to provide a painless way to delivering drugs to a patient's bloodstream over a period of weeks, months or even years. When this access is needed for a longer period of time or a more secure venous access is necessary, a special catheter, called a central access catheter, is placed inside a major blood vessel temporarily or long-term so that it can be easily accessed.
Minimally invasive embolization therapy
- Bland embolization - A treatment option for liver cancer patients where the tumors cannot be removed by surgery because of their location or number of tumors. This can treat tumors that have originated in the liver and tumors that spread from other sites (colon or breast). Through a catheter, small particles are injected to prevent blood flow to the tumor. This is an outpatient procedure.
- Chemoembolization - LC Beads® - Beads are injected into the vessels to block the blood flow to the tumor, causing it to shrink over time.
- Portal vein embolization - A procedure that blocks the flow of blood to an area of the liver. Tiny particles are injected into the vein and this blockage redirects the blood flow to the side of the liver that is not being embolized allowing for surgery to be possible.
- Radioembolization and Selective Internal Radiation Therapy - Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) delivers radiation directly to the tumor through millions of microscopic radioactive spheres, called SIR-Spheres® or TheraSpheres®, where they destroy the tumor by depositing millions of tiny radioactive emitters around the tumor nodules in the liver. These particles act like local radiation therapy directly to the tumors, with very few side effects. The radiation is contained within the patient's body, and continually delivers the radiation over a few days. The microspheres are then no longer radioactive. Patients usually spend one night in the hospital.
Vascular access catheters and ports - Interventional radiologists insert catheters into the blood vessel to provide a painless way to delivering drugs to a patient's bloodstream over a period of weeks, months or even years. When this access is needed for a longer period of time or a more secure venous access is necessary, a special catheter, called a central access catheter, is placed inside a major blood vessel temporarily or long-term so that it can be easily accessed.
Tomotherapy®
The first treatment method actually designed for intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). TomoTherapy® has been in clinical use since 2004. The unit resembles a large CT scanner where the radiation beam rotates in a helical pattern about the central treatment area.
The high-energy treatment beam is composed of 64 tiny “beamlets”. Each beamlet can be modulated independently as the array rotates around the patient in a helix. This method achieves complex radiation dose distributions surpassing CyberKnife. A daily treatment with image guidance takes about 20 minutes.
Learn more about Tomotherapy®
Trilogy®
Triology® is a revolutionary result of research in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) over the past decade. It has the ability to precisely reproduce patient position with biplane X-rays, using either bones or implanted gold seeds for fiducials.
In addition, it can produce CT scans for precise location of internal organs and tumors just before treatment, significantly reducing the radiation dose to adjacent structures. A daily treatment with image guidance takes about 20 minutes. Learn more about Trilogy®
In addition to conventional surgery, our surgeons also use laparoscopic techniques and the da Vinci robot. With the da Vinci surgical program, the surgeon’s hands are at the controls of a robotic platform. The system is so refined even the most complex, delicate procedures can be performed through very small incisions with unmatched precision.
Our program also incorporates a hybrid solution for ablation procedures where the surgeon and interventional radiologist work together in the operating room.
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