Cryoablation Treatment For Breast Disease

Health & wellness

- Jendana Chanyaputhipong

What is Cryoablation?

Cryoablation is a minimally invasive treatment that uses extremely cold temperatures to destroy diseased tissues, including cancer cells. It comes from the greek word “kruos” (which means “icy cold” or “frost”) and the Latin word “ablatum” (which means “to remove”). Cryoablation is not a new concept: This method has been known for more than twenty years, but its use for the treatment of breast diseases is still limited.

Where do we stand?

Cryoablation has been approved for more than 10 years as a safe and effective therapy for treating fibroadenomas without excision.

Fibroadenoma is a benign lesion of the breast. While many patients do not require treatment, some patients experience physical deformity or discomfort due to their large size. Before treating a breast lump with cryoablation, however, it should be biopsied to confirm that the lump is indeed a fibroadenoma and that the size is less than 4cm. In contrast to ultrasound-guided percutaneous vacuum-assisted excision of the breast lump, cryoablation for fibroadenoma does not involve cutting tissue. The cryoprobe is placed at the center of the fibroadenoma and the tumor is killed by extreme cold.

The dead tissue is then removed by the body and it may take up to a year before it disappears fully, depending on the size of the tumor. It has also been shown that the cryoablation of fibroadenoma causes minimal if any, scar tissue in the treated area.

Feasibility and limitations

Although cryoablation is not currently considered one of the mainstream treatment options for patients with breast cancer, it has been shown to be effective in the treatment of early breast cancer in highly selected individuals.