When Lisa Green was first diagnosed with breast cancer, she was a mother of two young boys, facing the unimaginable. Determined to preserve a sense of normalcy for herself and her active family, she chose breast conservation therapy. After a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation, Green emerged cancer-free for the next 25 years.

When cancer returned last year, it did so in a very different chapter of her life. This time, a rare stage IV sarcoma complicated her breast cancer. She now faced a difficult decision regarding surgical management. 

“Surgery would require me to be off the sarcoma medication for at least a month to heal,” Green said.

Green knew that pausing her sarcoma medication could lead to several potential consequences, including tumor growth, spread and increased risk of recurrence. With these concerns in mind, Green began to do extensive research. Through a social media group for people with sarcoma, she first learned from a physician about cryoablation treatment for cancer — a minimally invasive technique that uses targeted rapid freezing and thawing to kill cancerous cells. Some of the benefits of cryoablation include a shorter wait time for treatment, no overnight stays in the hospital, no sedation, lower cost, less scarring and shorter recovery time. Most importantly, Green would be able to continue her sarcoma treatment.

When she brought up cryoablation to her medical oncologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, Mauricio Escobar, M.D., referred her to radiologist and chief of breast imaging at UAB, Stefanie Woodard, D.O.

Planting the seeds

For the past several years, Woodard and the interdisciplinary breast cancer team had been working behind the scenes to bring cryoablation for breast cancer to UAB Medicine. Radiologists, who are trained to analyze medical images, are well-suited to perform minimally invasive image-guided procedures such as cryoablation. For breast cancer cryoablation, ultrasound is used to guide a needle to the site of the cancer, making it possible to treat the area with precision and without the need for large incisions.

“UAB Medicine strives to be at the forefront of cancer research and the newest innovations in breast cancer care,” Woodard said. “While surgery is still the gold standard of care for breast cancer treatment, cryoablation is becoming more common and is being performed for breast cancer patients across the U.S. While cryoablation is not for every patient, this now offers eligible patients a minimally invasive option to treat their breast cancer.”

Woodard stresses that this treatment is not new. Cryoablation for breast cancer began as early as the 1960s for palliative intent. In the mid-1980s, breast cancer cryoablation was investigated as a potential cure.

“Collecting data to prove safety and efficacy takes much time, and it has only been recently that larger-scale studies have shown that cryoablation is capable of achieving results similar to the standard of care, which is surgery,” Woodard said.

Source : https://www.uab.edu/news/health-medicine/uab-offers-new-minimally-invasive-treatment-option-for-breast-cancer-patients