Cryoablation: A New Treatment For Breast Cancer

Talking about cryoablation and the idea of ​​”freezing” a tumor to stop cancer activity may sound like something that comes from a science fiction world. However, the results we see today are as hopeful as they are positive. This is both a straightforward method and a sophisticated treatment for breast cancer. A trained radiologist only needs to insert a small needle probe through the skin of the chest.

Once there, the primary tumors and any new growths are identified and then frozen. Far from being a new medical strategy for treating breast cancer, cryoablation has also become a good alternative for lung or prostate cancer.

This operation is more precise and increases the life expectancy of the patient. It is a new perspective in medicine that is worth learning a little more about.

Cryoablation, when ice fights breast cancer

We will start by clarifying something important. Cryoablation does not cure cancer. But what you want to see is the following:

• Reduced spread of cancer cells
• Increased life expectancy
• Reduced impact of cancer treatment

In addition,  cryoablation does not prevent the patient from undergoing other, more aggressive treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, either before or after.

This approach generally has positive results when used in the early stages of cancer. In its more advanced stages, a physician will need to decide which strategies to follow.

Still, let’s go through all the information.

Cryoablation: a new method of treating tumors

The first human tests for this technique were performed 13 years ago. The so-called “Patient 0” was Laura Ross-Paul, a woman from Oregon who was diagnosed with breast cancer in the first stage.

The technique was fast and efficient, despite the fact that it left a mark. It was a brand new intervention that actually saved her life. Let’s see what it consists of:

• Cryotherapy is performed using a probe. It is a device similar to a very thin and hollow rod.
• It is attached to a source of nitrogen or argon, which rapidly cools the probe.

• The person administering the therapy is a specialized radiologist who creates a puncture in the chest using images and tomography, along with a liquid dye that is injected into the patient’s bloodstream.
• Little by little, tumors and other potentially affected tissues become frozen. The radiologist avoids damaging healthy tissue, and only targets cancer cells for cryogenic freezing.

This treatment takes a little more than half an hour

• Tumors that are less than one centimeter in diameter do not develop into more advanced cancer stages after treatment with cryoablation.

This is undoubtedly a very hopeful finding, but for a high success rate with this disease, treatment must be carried out at an early stage.

• The American Society of Breast Surgeons has been using this technique for a few years, and with good results.

With cryoablation, patients do not have to be admitted to an operating room. The intervention takes a little more than half an hour, and can be performed while the patient is awake, without more invasive treatment.

• Compared to traditional surgery, cryoablation is a very effective, non-surgical treatment for breast cancer for a good proportion of patients. Yes, there are some cases where this treatment has not had the expected results.
• However, what has been discovered is the fact that most cancer cells die, and the progression of any remaining tumors is much slower. In some cases, this treatment is followed by chemotherapy or radiation.

Also good results for lung cancer

As we mentioned at the beginning, cryoablation is also used for other types of cancer.

Many of the studies conducted to explore its usefulness, such as one published in Sciencedaily , show that this treatment manages to stop the development of tumors present in the lungs.

• In the above study, 22 patients with lung cancer were treated with cryoablation. After 27 sessions of cryoablation over three months, the treatment was 100% effective in five patients.
• The remaining patients have seen the incidence of their tumors decrease. The cancer is still present, but the malignant activity has been significantly reduced.

In this way , patients are able to enjoy a longer and better quality of life.