{"entity":{"id":"precancer-ablation","kind":"technology","name":"Thermal ablation and cryotherapy for cervical precancer","aka":[],"tldr":"Destroying precancerous cervical cells with a heated or frozen probe in under a minute, the tool that makes screen-and-treat possible where there are no surgeons.","summary":"WHO (2019) recommends thermal ablation (100°C probe, 20-40 seconds) or cryotherapy for eligible CIN2+ lesions in screen-and-treat programmes, often after visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) or HPV testing. Portable battery-powered devices cost a few hundred dollars; cure rates ~85-95% for eligible lesions. Central to the WHO cervical cancer elimination strategy's 90% treatment target.","status":"standard-of-care","asOf":"2026-09-07","links":[{"label":"WHO guidelines for the use of thermal ablation for cervical pre-cancer lesions (2019)","url":"https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241550598"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["cervical"],"sections":["surgery","prevention"],"technologies":["hpv-testing"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["cin-hsil"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"Coagulative necrosis (thermal) or freeze-thaw injury (cryo) of the cervical transformation zone.","strengths":["Cheap, fast, no anaesthesia or electricity mains","Enables single-visit screen-and-treat"],"limitations":["No histology","Not suitable for large or endocervical lesions"]},"route":"/technologies/precancer-ablation/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"anal","kind":"cancer","name":"Anal cancer (squamous cell carcinoma)","route":"/cancers/anal/"},{"id":"anal-hsil-precursor","kind":"cancer","name":"Anal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (precursor)","route":"/cancers/anal-hsil-precursor/"},{"id":"cervical","kind":"cancer","name":"Cervical cancer","route":"/cancers/cervical/"},{"id":"hpv-associated-vulvar-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"HPV-associated vulvar squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/hpv-associated-vulvar-cancer/"},{"id":"hpv-independent-vulvar-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"HPV-independent vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (p53-mutant)","route":"/cancers/hpv-independent-vulvar-cancer/"},{"id":"localised-penile-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Localised penile cancer (organ-confined, node-negative)","route":"/cancers/localised-penile-cancer/"},{"id":"vaginal","kind":"cancer","name":"Vaginal cancer","route":"/cancers/vaginal/"},{"id":"vaginal-squamous-cell-carcinoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Vaginal squamous cell carcinoma (HPV-associated)","route":"/cancers/vaginal-squamous-cell-carcinoma/"}],"section":[{"id":"prevention","kind":"section","name":"Prevention & Risk","route":"/fronts/prevention/"},{"id":"surgery","kind":"section","name":"Surgery & Interventional","route":"/fronts/surgery/"}],"technology":[{"id":"cryoablation-systems","kind":"technology","name":"Cryoablation systems","route":"/technologies/cryoablation-systems/"},{"id":"hpv-testing","kind":"technology","name":"HPV DNA testing and self-sampling","route":"/technologies/hpv-testing/"}],"term":[{"id":"cin-hsil","kind":"term","name":"Cervical precancer (CIN, HSIL/LSIL)","route":"/terms/cin-hsil/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-field-interception","kind":"idea","name":"Intercept cancer at the field stage","route":"/ideas/idea-field-interception/"},{"id":"idea-single-dose-hpv-self-sampling-elimination","kind":"idea","name":"Single-dose HPV vaccination plus HPV self-sampling to reach WHO elimination in low-income countries","route":"/ideas/idea-single-dose-hpv-self-sampling-elimination/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-global-access","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Most of the world has almost no cancer care","route":"/bottlenecks/b-global-access/"},{"id":"b-prevention-adoption","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Prevention we already have is not deployed","route":"/bottlenecks/b-prevention-adoption/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"basement-membrane-tissue-barriers","kind":"pathway","name":"Basement membrane & tissue barriers","route":"/pathways/basement-membrane-tissue-barriers/"},{"id":"field-cancerisation","kind":"pathway","name":"Field cancerisation","route":"/pathways/field-cancerisation/"}],"drug":[{"id":"aminolevulinic-acid","kind":"drug","name":"Aminolevulinic acid (topical, for photodynamic therapy)","route":"/drugs/aminolevulinic-acid/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"prevention-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Cancer prevention roadmap: tobacco control and vaccines → biomarker-guided chemoprevention → interception in carriers","route":"/roadmaps/prevention-roadmap/"},{"id":"devices-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Devices and physical therapies roadmap: heat and light → electric fields and focused sound → drug-releasing implants","route":"/roadmaps/devices-roadmap/"},{"id":"global-access-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Global access and affordability roadmap: essential medicines and generics → biosimilars and frugal trials → reliance, pooling and homegrown innovation","route":"/roadmaps/global-access-roadmap/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct05736406","kind":"trial","name":"A Dose-escalation Clinical Study of Intraoperative Photodynamic Therapy of Glioblastoma","route":"/trials/nct05736406/"},{"id":"nct07225621","kind":"trial","name":"Adjuvant Temozolomide ± 5-Aminolevulinic Acid + Low Intensity Diffuse Ultrasound Sonodynamic Therapy System for Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma","route":"/trials/nct07225621/"}]}}