Dr Jason Williams, Founder and Director of Interventional Oncology and Immunotherapy at The Williams Cancer Institute, discusses leveraging immunotherapy and cryoablation for a new era in cancer treatment.

The paradigm of cancer treatment is shifting. For decades, chemotherapy and radiation have been the pillars of oncology, but their limitations are becoming increasingly evident. Despite being the most widely used therapies, these traditional treatments often fail to deliver long-term success—single-agent chemotherapy can have substantial side-effects and is associated with response rates of only 5-20% in some cancers, such as melanoma1.

This reality is driving a transformation in the field. Cancer treatment is shifting toward precision medicine—tailoring therapies to individual patients rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. Unlike chemotherapy and radiation, which often harm healthy tissue, precision medicine targets cancer more effectively while minimising side effects.

Oncologists and researchers are now leveraging multi-modal strategies that combine localised tumour destruction with systemic immune activation. One particularly promising technique is cryoablation, which, when combined with immunotherapy, has the potential to redefine how we treat cancer.

The overlooked potential of cryoablation and immunotherapy

Cryoablation uses extreme cold to destroy tumour cells and can be highly effective in some cancers. For instance, a study on percutaneous cryoablation for stage I renal cell carcinoma reported a 94% local control rate after a single session2.

But its impact goes beyond simple tumour destruction. The freezing process exposes tumour antigens—essentially unmasking the cancer to the immune system, which then triggers a broader, systemic response.

When combined with immunotherapy, which stimulates the body’s immune system to fight cancer, cryoablation significantly enhances treatment response. Large-scale trials show this synergy leads to higher survival rates compared to standard therapies.

A more targeted approach: The role of intra-arterial immunotherapy

Beyond cryoablation, another advancement making waves in oncology is intra-arterial immunotherapy—a method that delivers immune-stimulating agents directly to tumours via targeted arterial infusion. Unlike systemic immunotherapy, which disperses drugs throughout the entire body, intra-arterial delivery increases local drug uptake significantly while reducing off-target toxicity.

Studies have reported overall response rates (ORR) are higher3 for intra-arterial immunotherapy, indicating a substantial proportion of patients experiencing tumour shrinkage or disappearance. Meanwhile, clinical studies show that patients who respond to immunotherapy have longer survival rates4 with lower metastatic relapse, suggesting that immunotherapy may be one of the solutions to overcome cancer metastasis.

This precise drug administration method is particularly promising for solid tumours that have historically been resistant to systemic therapies. By minimising toxicity and maximising efficacy, intra-arterial immunotherapy brings us closer to personalised oncology—where treatment is tailored not just to the cancer type, but to the individual patient’s tumour biology.

Why investment in emerging treatments is urgent

Despite the mounting clinical evidence supporting these approaches, widespread adoption remains slow. The healthcare system’s dependence on standardised treatment protocols—reinforced by insurance coding limitations and regulatory inertia—hinders the implementation of novel therapies.

More investment is needed to fund large-scale trials and integrate new modalities into standard treatment guidelines. Additionally, AI-driven advancements such as spatial transcriptomics and single-cell sequencing are revolutionising how we understand the tumour microenvironment. These tools can identify which patients will benefit most from specific immunotherapies, but accessibility remains a challenge. Without infrastructure investment, these breakthroughs will remain underutilised.

A call to action for the future of cancer treatment

The science is clear: cancer treatment must evolve beyond the one-size-fits-all approach. The integration of cryoablation, immunotherapy, and intra-arterial drug delivery represents a fundamental shift toward personalised, effective, and less toxic treatment options.

However, realising this future requires:

  • Greater research funding for combination therapies
  • Regulatory changes and education to accelerate adoption in clinical settings
  • More access to advanced diagnostics and AI-driven treatment planning

Thousands of cryoablation procedures have already been performed worldwide, and the data overwhelmingly support their efficacy. The question is no longer whether these approaches work—it’s how quickly we can bring them to more patients.

About the author

Dr Jason Williams is a board-certified radiologist and a pioneer in image-guided cancer treatment. He has performed thousands of cryoablation and immunotherapy procedures and is the Founder and Director of the Williams Cancer Institute.

References
  1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2737459/
  2. https://ajronline.org/doi/10.2214/AJR.13.11084?utm
  3. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2022.1015962/full?utm
  4. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7156317/#:~:text=Recent%20clinical%20studies%20demonstrated%20that%20patients%20who,of%20the%20solutions%20to%20overcome%20cancer%20metastasis.&text=In%20several%20clinical%20trials%2C%20CAR%20T%20cells,cell%20lymphoma%2C%20non%2DHodgkin’s%20lymphoma%20(Kochenderfer%20et%20al.