Cryoablation, a technique which consists of putting extreme cold on the tumor to kill cancer cells, has just obtained very good results for breast cancer.
- Cryoablation involves destroying cancer cells using cold.
- In their study, the researchers discovered that in addition to hormonal therapy or radiotherapy, cryoablation made it possible to destroy 100% of tumors.
- During the sixteen months of follow-up, only 10% of patients had a recurrence of cancer.
Treating breast cancer with cold is what a new study of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York presented during the annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiologyin the USA.
Breast cancer: cold to kill cancer cells
The technique used is called cryoablation. Concretely, after having located the tumor, the doctors – via probes – surround it with intense cold in order to form a ball of ice cream. VSe which kills cancer cells.
During their work, the scientists followed 60 patients who underwent cryoablation, either because they could not benefit from a surgical operation, or because they had refused it after consultation with a surgeon (due to their age, health problems, or treatments they were having at the same time, etc.). Tumor sizes ranged from 0.3 cm to 9 cm, with an average size of 2.5 cm.
The procedure was performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia or under minimal sedation. There were two cycles, on the same day, of freezing and thawing. The first was 5-10 minutes, followed by 5-8 minutes of defrosting. In total, the procedure lasted on average thirty minutes.
“For a long time, cryoablation has been used to treat smaller breast tumors (classified as less than 1.5 cm), but this study shows that cryoablation can also be effective for patients with larger tumors“, explains Yolanda Bryce, radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of the authors of the study, in comments reported by the New York Post.
Cryoablation: only 10% of patients had a recurrencee
Indeed, the researchers’ results are encouraging: combined with hormone therapy and radiotherapy, cryoablation made it possible to destroy 100% of tumors. In addition, during the sixteen months of follow-up, only 10% of participants had a recurrence of cancer.
“When treated only with radiotherapy and hormone therapy, tumors eventually return, says Yolanda Bryc. [Notre découverte] of a 10% recidivism rate is incredibly promising.“
The technique is less invasive than surgery, but it can cause skin burns. However, according to the authors, the women who experienced this side effect were treated with an ointment and had no after-effects.
“Surgery remains the best option for tumor removal, but thousands of women cannot undergo surgery for various reasonssays Yolanda Bryce. We hope our results can give hope to more women on their treatment journey.”
In France, there were 61,214 new cases of breast cancer in 2023. This represents an increase of 0.3% since 2010, according to the Panorama of cancers in France – 2023 edition. These are the most common malignant tumors in women. However, if detected early, it is a cancer with a good prognosis.
