On April 2, Chang Dongmin, Song Yongchun and Yin Jianhao in the minimally invasive treatment team from Department of Surgical Oncology, cooperated with Yang Aimin and Deng Huixing from Department of Nuclear Medicine to jointly perform argon-helium knife combined with particle implantation for a patient with refractory thoracic synovial sarcoma for the first time in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University.

A 37-year-old female patient was diagnosed with a giant synovial sarcoma of the thoracic cavity and admitted to local hospitals in Beijing and other places. The tumor could not be surgically resected due to the invasion into large blood vessels. After particle implantation treatment in our hospital, the tumor size was shrank by half, whereas it could not be further reduced. After discussion and consultation by Chang Dongmin, Chief Physician, Song Yongchun, Associate Chief Physician and Physician Yin Jianhao in the minimally invasive treatment team from Department of Surgical Oncology, a comprehensive surgical plan was determined, which utilized argon-helium knife cryoablation to treat a large part of tumor and applied particle implantation to treat a small portion of tumor adjacent to the large blood vessels. With the support and cooperation of Director Yang Aimin and Physician Deng Huixing, CT-guided minimally invasive treatment of the tumor was conducted. First, three-dimensional space layout and plan of the argon-helium knife were carried out. The patient suffered from no pain during the process of cryoablation. Subsequently, particle implantation was performed in the tumor part surrounding the large vessels of the heart. The treatment process was successfully completed for 2h.

In recent years, a novel trend in the comprehensive application of minimally invasive treatment of tumors has emerged at home and abroad. Radiofrequency, argon-helium knife and particle implantation can be flexibly combined to achieve better therapeutic effects for refractory tumors. The successful implementation of this case reflects that the minimally invasive treatment of tumors in our hospital starts to take the leading position around the globe.

A. Cryoablation with argon-helium knife in treatment of a large portion of tumor

B. Particle implantation in treatment of a small portion of tumor adjacent to large blood vessels

C. Argon-helium knife treatment team

D. Song Yongchun, Associate Chief Physician, is performing cryoablation with argon-helium knife for patient