Cryoablation In The Management Of Breast Cancer: Evidence To Date

Abstract

Cryoablation has been successfully used to treat various type of solid tumors, including breast carcinomas. This ablation method has the advantage of being a minimally invasive procedure useful in various clinical situations, including early breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer, when co-morbidities preclude the use of surgical treatment. However, due to the small sample size of the available studies, reliable and definitive conclusions on the usefulness of cryoablation in patients with breast cancer could not be drawn. In fact, many aspects necessitate to be elucidated, regarding technical issues, indications, efficacy, imaging follow-up, and possible advantages over other percutaneous ablative methods. This review article has the aim to clarify the current evidence supporting cryoablation of breast cancer, and discuss the future perspectives, including those arising from the new studies on immunological effects related to cryoablation.

Keywords:

• cryoablation
• breast cancer
• ablation
• treatment
• interventional radiology

Author contributions

• 1) Substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data: Claudio Pusceddu, Panagiotis Paliogiannis, Giuseppe Nigri, Alessandro Fancellu.

• 2) Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content: Claudio Pusceddu, Panagiotis Paliogiannis, Giuseppe Nigri, Alessandro Fancellu.

• 3) Final approval of the version to be published: Claudio Pusceddu, Panagiotis Paliogiannis, Giuseppe Nigri, Alessandro Fancellu.

• 4) Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved: Claudio Pusceddu, Panagiotis Paliogiannis, Giuseppe Nigri, Alessandro Fancellu.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.