It is difficult to believe that cold will cure such diseases; today, however, we have cryosurgery-Cryo in Greek, meaning ice cold. Cryosurgery is the use of intense cold to damage and prevent the growth of irregular cells and certain tumor cells; it can be used to remove skin warts, marks, and moles; nitrogen, carbon dioxide, Argon gas, and freeze sprays. External skin tumors and some internal ones, such as liver cancer, prostate cancer, oral cancer and some cervical disorders, have been shown to be very effective in treating them.
Liquid nitrogen is the most widely used liquid in cryosurgery, since its temperature is -196°C. The lesion is frozen, and in one to four weeks it transforms into scabs that fall off. To enter the diseased tissue, a cryoprobe is used for internal tumors. To direct the probe to the right spot, doctors use ultrasound to make the operation more effective, while avoiding damaging healthy tissues and organs around the lesion. If the tissue is penetrated by liquid nitrogen, ice crystals begin to appear around the probe, creating a very rapid drop in the temperature of this tissue, causing a thermal shock that destroys the tumor cell. The frozen tissues thaw after that, and the body absorbs them.
Cryosurgery can be used as a safe method in some bone cancers, as it is more localized, so it decreases the risk of joint damage that may occur after using the other conventional methods—chemotherapy and radiation. It is also safe in the first stage of liver cancer with old patients and/or patients with another medical history that does not allow them to use conventional methods.
The benefits of cryosurgery can not be denied, as it only involves a slight incision, or by simply applying it to the skin. In addition, it only takes a few seconds to minutes to complete the operation, as the penetration power of the cold is 1 mm per 5 seconds. The recovery time is also very short, with no need for a stay in the hospital or a short stay. And in such situations, the lesion does not need to be covered. Cryosurgery is often less costly and more precise than other techniques.
On the other hand, cryosurgery can have side effects, just like any other form of tumor removal, but they are less serious than other approaches. Its side effects are dependent on the lesion site. In females, cervical tumors do not affect female fertility, but can cause cramps and bleeding. It can cause infertility when treating prostate cancer in males. In the treatment of skin cancer, scars and swelling can develop and bone fractures are likely to occur long after cryosurgery of the bone. Unfortunately, since it requires more time to be considered, the long-term impact of cryosurgery is still uncertain.
In order to make them more applicable and able to heal more forms of tumors, scientists are still working on developing such methods.