Evaluation of Percutaneous Cryotherapy in the Treatment of Plexiform Neurofibromas and Unresectable Neurofibromas in Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1)

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disease affecting chromosome 17. It is manifested by a neurogenic tumor proliferation that forms cutaneous, subcutaneous or deep neurofibromas. Neurofibromas can cause functional discomfort, neurogenic pain that is difficult to treat, and severe cosmetic disorders. Treatment is essentially surgical. It is sometimes a heavy invasive surgery with complicated postoperative follow-up and significant scarring on the aesthetic level. Currently, no systemic treatment has proven its effectiveness in this pathology. Percutaneous cryotherapy is a cold thermoablation procedure using fine 17 G needles introduced into the lesion after targeting by imaging. This technique is used in the treatment of soft tissue tumors and desmoid tumors. The treatment of neurofibromas with percutaneous cryotherapy is not well known. Encouraging results (unpublished) have been observed in patients with NF1 treated with cryotherapy at the Léon Bérard Center. The beneficial effect was observed in terms of quality of life (in particular, pain) as well as a decrease in tumor size. On the basis of this first experience, it appears important to corroborate these preliminary results by a prospective study allowing the use of this technique to treat patients with unresectable or resectable neurofibromas but with mutilating surgery in a NF1 context.