Vision/Mission

In 1997 the International Institute for Cryosurgery was founded by Nikolai N. KORPAN, MD, Professor of Surgery as a non-profit based institution to enhance and improve the number and quality of the theoretical, experimental and clinical investigations in the field of cancer treatment, especially through cryosurgical approaches.

As a co-founder of the International Institute for Cryosurgery are Gerhard HOCHWARTER, MD, Assistant Medical Director of Surgery and Franz SELLNER, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery.

Background

Use of deep (low) cooling as a method for the destruction of biological tissues has been known for a long time and many publications testify to it. Highly efficient cryosurgical approaches using super cooled liquid nitrogen have been developed in the last years. Rapid freezing, slow thawing, and repetition of the freeze/thaw cycle are standard features of the technique. Choosing the technology used to freeze tissues has been one of the biggest challenges in cryosurgery. The technological advances which have caused renewed interest in cryosurgery are the development of intraoperative ultrasound to monitor the therapeutic process and the development of new cryosurgical equipment designed to use super cooled liquid nitrogen.The use of liquid nitrogen refrigant allows particularly rapid and extensive freezing of cells to lethal temperatures. The combined laboratory, experimental, and clinical experience have demonstrated that now the different cryosurgical units are not safe and effective for the malignant tumor treatment, because at present the liquid nitrogen cryosurgical systems do not provide powerful freezing capacity to -196 degrees Celsius, in a unit which combines safety with precision and practical convenience. Liquid nitrogen, for example, is at its coldest in the internal tank, and when it travels to the probe's tip loses cold along the way.

Therefore, an accurate level of the constant and effective low temperature, and high cooling rate are also two essential parameters for the modern cryosurgery.

This complex of scientific works about my year-long investigation and experience in the field of cryosurgery was presented partly orally with the accompanying video as "only the best Abstracts" at the European School of Oncology (October 24-28, 1994, Lugano, Switzerland); on the XXIX World Congress of the International College of Surgeons (November 13-16, 1994, London, England); at the European Institute of Oncology (May 22-24, 1995, Milan, Italy); on the 36th World Congress of Surgery. International Surgical Week ISW95 (Lisbon, Portugal, August 27 to September 2, 1995); Pre and Post Course Symposium. Colorectal Disease in 1996: An International Exchange of Medical and Surgical Concepts (February 5-23, 1996, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida); XXX World Congress of the International College of Surgeons (November 25-29, 1996, Kyoto, Japan); 31st Annual Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigation (19-22 March 1997, Kiel, Germany); 37th World Congress of Surgery, International Surgical Week ISW 97 (August 24-30, 1997, Acapulco, Mexico) as well as published partly in the renowned World Top-Journal of Surgery with the highest Science Citation Index [Annals of Surgery, USA]. It will be presented partly orally with the accompanying video on the World Congress of Cryosurgery (October 29th-November 1st, 1998, Orlando, Florida, USA); XXXI World Congress of the International College of Surgeons (November 15-19, 1998, Buenos Aires, Argentina); 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigation (Milan, Italy: 7th-10th April 1999); 1st European Congress of Cryosurgery (March 29- April 2, 2000, San-Sebastian, Spain) etc. as well as at this time some papers about cryosurgery are prepared and will be published in the renowned World Top-Journals with a high Science Citation Index, for the present, in the European J of Clinical Investigation, World J of Surgery, J of Surgical Research etc.

For the first time in the history of world surgery, cryosurgery has taken a significant part in the scientific program of the XXXI World Congress of the International College of Surgeons (November 15-19, 1998, Buenos Aires, Argentina) after Professor Dr. Korpan year-long international involvement with the development of cryosurgery and founding of the European Society of Cryosurgery.

What is the key message or phrase to describe our international institution?

The battle against cancer must be won finally!

What is Modern Cryosurgery?

Cryosurgery is an operation in which low temperatures are used; the destruction of the tissue occurs application of extreme cold; the technique of exposing tissues to extreme cold in order to produce well-demarcated areas of cell injury and destruction is used. The tissue is usually cooled to below -20 °C. The cold is usually produced by the use of a probe through which liquid nitrogen circulates.

Cryoresection is the cryosurgical removal of part or all of a structure or organ with pathological tissue (tumor) using cryoprobes, as a rule with help of a cryogenic clamp, or cryoscalpel, or trocar type (or the act of cutting out by using low temperature).

Cryoextirpation (cryoablation) is the full (complete) removal of the tumor by freezing tissues using cryoprobes, as a rule it is used in the form of a disk design or trocar type.

Cryodestruction is a partial removal of the tumor (diseased tissue) by the freezing tumor mass using cryoprobe, as a rule it is used in the form of a disk design (destruction is the action or process of destroying something).

The use of low temperatures to destroy abnormal tissues is the basis of cryosurgery. The application of cryogenic techniques for resection of parenchymal organs and in situ ablation of tumors using subzero temperatures for surface malignancies have been described. The advances in this technology have encouraged interest in applying cryosurgery in the treatment of different malignancies.

Advantages

The principal advantages of cryosurgery over those of conventional treatment are:

1. focal and central application sacrifices less normal tissue than does resection
   
   
2. multiple areas within an organ can be treated
   
   
3. retreatment is highly feasible
   
   
4. tumors near large blood vessels can be treated because the vessels remain unfrozen during cryosurgery
   
   
5. the normal or pathological tissue can be fully destroyed on the surface and below the surface
   
   
6. optimal approach to deep pathologic tissue with minimal trauma for the normal tissue
   
   
7. formation of the cryogenic intracorporal vaccine
   
   
8. operating time decreased
   
   
9. non-bloody method
   
   
10. swift healing process
    
    
11. allows an operation for patients who could not be operated by means of other surgical methods
    
    
12. high recovering rate and low recurrence risk
    
    
13. possibility of combination with other medical and surgical methods
    
    
14. short training before practice
    
    
15. ecological cleanness, and
    
    
16. quick recovery of the destruction seat, absence of rough scars and excellent cosmetic effect.

Main Zones of Freezing

During cryosurgery, three main areas of freezing occur:

• an area near the cryoprobe where the freezing is rapid
• an area in the middle of the cryosurgical ice-ball where the tissue experiences intermediate cooling rates
• and finally an area at the periphery of the cryosurgical ice-ball where very slow rates of cooling occur.

These results are particularly important for cryosurgery since they indicate that cancerous tissues are more resistant to freezing than normal tissue.

Numerous researches showed that obtaining absolute constant low temperature is the only requirement for a total biological necrosis, but it was not to have constant temperature at a height of -120 °C for a long time. An accurate level of the constant effective low temperature and high cooling rate are also two essential parameters for the modern medicine. Therefore, during the whole operation time the control and the stability of the selected low temperature at (-170 °C) - (-190 °C) in the working part of the cryoprobe (cryosound) in contact with the organ or tissue to be necrosed are essential conditions for an efficient cryogenic effect. But all modern cryogenic units in the world do not have these required essential parameters and, therefore, there are unsuccessful results in many medical disciplines!

However, on the base of these results and by using only the modern high-tech cryogenic units we can summerize that the cryogenic method has entered a promising era and it has many advantages compared to conventional methods.

At present, the new generation of cryosurgical units have all of the fully stretched requirements and can be used for the modern cryosurgery.

Cancer is terrible Problem of Humanity

At our time cancer is yet remaining as a terrible problem of humanity in the whole world.

Millions of people, especially the young generation from all over the world, must die from cancer. I have developed a new multimodal concept for cancer treatment based on cryosurgery, which I have presented with considerable success at well-known international symposiums and congresses. We must fight against this terrible disease which destroys so many treasured lives! To put this concept into practice the foundation of the modern "World Antitumor City - 21st Century" with modern Cryosurgery & Cryotechnology - as the AntiCancer Computer Model-Complex for the 3rd Millennium, - combined with specialized medical, technical and computer competence Microsoft Tele-Education would be necessary in Vienna, Austria or Kyiv, Ukraine, or other places (countries).

What is Pricing
of the
International Institute for Cryosurgery

It is quite specialised in the treatment of cancer patients, economies of scale through specialisation. This would contribute to the following:

• Shorter hospital stay (2/3 times shorter than the normal one) - mainly due to a minimal intraoperative trauma by the cryosurgical approach (ie: minimal physiological changes can be observed in the human body as opposed to a conventional operation where the patient's body would be exposed to different pathological conditions: anaemia, respiratory and cardiac changes having not only a weaving effect but also causing some additional complications in the patient's body, etc.), making the patient being able to progress without any complications during the postoperative period.
  
  
• Shorter operating time - the tumour mass will be removed with great precision locally without bleeding.
• Less time taken for anaesthesia - because of the shorter operating time.
• The patient will not have to deal repeatedly with the recurrence of malignant tumours, as opposed to the conventional operations.
• Prevention of dissemination of the tumour cells in other organs (ie: lungs, bone, brain, etc.) - because of this the patient would not have to come up for the costs for further necessary treatment.