February 21, 2005 --

Ben Swann-KFOX Morning News Anchor/Reporter

For one 17-year old, every night at bedtime was full of severe knee pain. A non-cancerous tumor was growing deep inside the joint. Instead of performing major surgery to remove it, doctors used a much less invasive procedure. It's technology that's changing the way many types of bone tumors are treated.

It started as a little pain Daniel Rafacz felt in his knee now and then when he rushed to guard the net.

Daniel Rafacz-Bone Tumor Patient: "It hurt for a while, then it faded."

Slowly the pain in Daniel's knee grew worse. Every lunge for the ball hurt. Within a year of the first symptom, Daniel had to stop playing weekend games with his family.

Renata Rafacz-Daniel's Mom: "He was in a lot of pain. Every night he was taking aspirin."

Finally the pain was too much. Daniel was diagnosed with a rare, non-cancerous tumor. It was very small, right in the center of his knee, and it caused him a lot of agony.

Dr. Patrick Liu-Radiologist: "This tumor creates Prostaglandin, which is a hormone that causes pain."

Dr. Patrick Liu says if you have one of these painful tumors you have two options: surgically remove it, which may weaken the knee joint and cause pain in recovery, or have a procedure called radio frequency ablation.

To treat the tumor, Dr. Liu drills a small hole into the bone using real-time CAT scans for guidance. He then places a needle containing a group of wires into the tumor. By deploying the wires into the tumor, he can direct radio frequency energy and generate heat. The process

Dr. Patrick Liu-Radiologist: "Burns the tumor and kills it."

Daniel says he felt better just two days after surgery.

Daniel Rafacz-Bone Tumor Patient: "I have freedom again. I can run, and play and do the things I used to do."

Other uses for this technology include treating cancerous tumors that have spread to the bones. This treatment keeps many cancer patients from experiencing severe pain in those areas.

If you would like more medical news, visit our health partners websites:

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center:http://www.mdanderson.org/

The Mayo Clinic: http://www.medicaledge.org

Baylor College of Medicine:http://public.bcm.tmc.edu/