Physicians at Michigan State University have successfully used a new method of shrinking benign breast tumors -- a method, they say, that can eliminate painful scarring and expensive surgery. Called cryoablation, the procedure literally freezes a tumor to death.
"There are many advantages to this," said Carol Slomski, an MSU breast cancer surgeon who also is chairperson of the MSU Department of Surgery. "It can be done right in the office, it leaves a much smaller scar and it is less expensive."
Until now, a woman diagnosed with a benign breast tumor had two options: leave it alone (benign tumors never become cancerous) or have a lumpectomy, a surgical procedure that must be performed in a hospital operating room.
"A lumpectomy certainly has its own set of issues, not the least of which is putting a woman under anesthesia," Slomski said.
Here's how cryoablation works: A small incision is made. Then, using ultrasound to guide it, a probe is inserted into the center of the tumor. Using small amounts of argon gas, the tumor is killed by literally freezing it to death.
"It's generally a very comfortable and kind of boring procedure," Slomski said, "in that the woman has to lie there for 30 or 40 minutes with the probe in place."
The cryoablation procedure, used at only about a dozen sites throughout the country, is most effective on a type of benign tumor known as a fibroadenoma.
"This type of lump is like a marble, very smooth, symmetric and rounded," Slomski said. "That lends itself very easily to this procedure because the energy from the probe can reach all parts of it, as opposed to tumors that are uneven."
That's why this procedure isn't useful yet for cancerous tumors, she noted. "Cancer tumors tend to be more irregular," she said. "Maybe in the future there will be some way of adjusting this energy level to get more irregular tumors."
Cryoablation is being tested on some cancerous tumors, including those of the liver and prostate.
Late last year, the American Journal of Surgery reported that doctors at eight U.S. medical centers used the cryoablation procedure on 50 patients. In each case, the story said, the tumors had either shrunk or disappeared within a year.
Approximately 80 percent of all breast tumors are benign. Most of the women who get these lumps tend to be younger -- in their late teens or early 20s.
To qualify for the procedure, a woman must have the tumor biopsied to assure that it is benign. The tumor also must be no larger than 2 centimeters.
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