Applications

1402 – Liver Microwave Tissue Ablation

Find out about the service or technology in this application and the medical condition it addresses. You can also view the application documents, the deadlines for providing consultation input and the outcome of the application when the MSAC process is complete.

  • Status Complete
  • Type New application
  • Pre-PASC consultation -
  • Pre-MSAC consultation -
  • Outcome Partially supported

Application details

Reason for application

New MBS item.

Service or technology in this application

Microwave thermal ablation (MTA) is a thermoablative technique that uses high frequency electromagnetic energy to produce large ablation volumes in fast procedure times (up to six minutes), with high accuracy and predictability (Swan et al. 2012).MTA is used to treat patients with surgically unresectable primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or metastatic liver tumours. It can be administered percutaneously, laparoscopically or intraoperatively in radiology departments or in operating theatres (Simon et al. 2005).

Type: Therapeutic

Medical condition this application addresses

Hepatic resection is currently the only potentially curative treatment for primary and metastatic liver tumours cases (Bhardwaj et al. 2009). They reported a 5 year associated survival of 25-30% of patients and a 25 month median survival (Bhardwaj et al. 2009). However, 75-80% of patients with these tumours are not candidates for surgical resection due to tumour location and extent, poor physiological hepatic reserve from cirrhosis/hepatitis and extra-hepatic disease (Bhardwaj et al. 2009; Swan et al. 2012). MTA may be an ideal treatment approach for these patients.

Meetings to consider this application

  • PASC meeting: 13 - 14 August 2015
  • ESC meeting: 6 - 7 October 2016
  • MSAC meeting: 24 - 25 November 2016