Bone tumors can develop in any bone of the body and may be cancerous or benign (non-cancerous). Even benign bone tumors can cause pain or deformation and may require treatment to improve your ability to move.

Bone tumors can cause pain, swelling and bone fractures. The right treatment can help relieve these symptoms while maintaining your healthy bone.

At University of Miami Health System, our interventional radiologists use radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation to destroy some bone tumors and alleviate pain. This minimally invasive procedure has a fast recovery time and helps you keep your healthy cells.

Tests

History and Physical Exam
Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine the area where the bone tumor is located.

Imaging Tests
Your doctor will take an X-ray, computed tomography (CT)  scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the affected area to look for a bone tumor.

Needle Biopsy
Your doctor, may need to use a needle to take a sample of tumor cells or biopsy. These cells are then examined in the lab to determine what type of bone tumor you have.

Treatments

Some benign bone tumors require no treatment at all and will go away on their own. Large bone tumors may require surgery to remove and may need replaced with bone grafts. However, certain types of bone tumors can be treated with ablation alone.

During ablation of a bone tumor, you’ll be asleep under general anesthesia. Using imaging guidance, your interventional radiologist will guide a needle into the bone tumor. When the needle is in place, they will use radiofrequency energy to heat the needle or in the case of cryoablation, reduce temperature to freeze the tumor. The tumor cells around the needle will be destroyed, while healthy bone cells away from the needle are not damaged.

The entire procedure may take two to eight hours. Some patients go home on the same day and return to normal activities within 24-48 hours. Other patients require inpatient observation.

Once the tumor cells are destroyed, your symptoms should begin to go away. You should experience pain relief and the tumor should shrink and disappear.

Why Choose UHealth?

Expert care from highly trained interventional radiologists. Our interventional radiologists and radiology specialists are experts in a variety of minimally invasive procedures — everything from treatments to clear blocked blood vessels to advanced cancer therapies like NanoKnife®.

Leading-edge imaging care in South Florida. Our doctors are also researchers discovering new ways to improve diagnosis and treatment. That means you can get some of today’s most promising advancements through clinical trials. You benefit from the latest developments that are fast-tracked from the lab to the bedside.