Matthew R. Callstrom, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Matthew Callstrom is an Assistant Professor of Radiology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and a consultant in the Division of Diagnostic Radiology.

Dr. Callstrom is involved in several areas of research centered on interventional oncology. The first involves the use of percutaneous ablation methods for treating cancer in the liver, kidney, bone, lung and soft tissue. As part of this effort, we have conducted several clinical trials to evaluate the effectiveness of both radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation for palliation of painful metastases involving bone. Three ongoing trials will (1) determine whether cryoablation is beneficial for the treatment of focal painful metastatic disease for patients that have failed conventional therapies, (2) compare the effectiveness of cryoablation with radiation therapy for patients that present with painful metastases, and (3) determine the effectiveness of both radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation for stimulation of a systemic immunological response to metastatic melanoma. A second area of interest is the development of image fusion of previously acquired CT/MRI/PET imaging with real-time US imaging. Development of this system will allow better identification and treatment of indeterminate lesions in the liver and kidney. This research involves (1) acquisition of 3D volumes of US data linked to a magnetic position sensor for correlation with the real-time imaging, (2) image fusion and registration, and (3) development of tools for biopsy and ablation using fusion imaging.