Breast Cryotherapy

Breast tumors, both cancerous and benign, occur frequently in women. A multidisciplinary team meeting (MDTM) is systematically held to determine the therapeutic strategy that will be proposed to each patient. In some cases, the appropriate treatment might be cryotherapy.

Cryotherapy consists in inserting a thin needle, or probe, into the tumor. Extreme cold at the tip of the probe causes an ice ball to form around the tumor, thus eliminating the cancer. The procedure takes less than one hour, is minimally invasive (leaving only a tiny scar measurable in millimeters), and can be performed under local anesthesia, which allows the patient to leave the hospital immediately after the procedure.

Breast cryotherapy is a non-invasive procedure that uses an innovative percutaneous approach —meaning the treatment is delivered directly through a needle—with no incision other than the needle stick.

Like a breast biopsy, the procedure begins with the administration of a local anesthesia. Then, guided by various imaging techniques (mammography, ultrasound or CT scan), the radiologist determines the exact location of the tumor, and precisely positions the cryotherapy probe at its center.

Liquid nitrogen circulating inside the probe causes an ice ball to form around its tip. The extreme cold generated by the ice destroys the tumor. While the ice ball forms, the radiologist ensures that it completely covers the tumor without invading the adjacent tissues. When the ice ball becomes large enough to destroy the whole tumor, the probe is thawed and can then be removed.

Local anesthesia is administered at the beginning of the procedure, before the needle is inserted.

The freezing phase is not painful because the cold also has an anesthetizing effect. The procedure leaves a tiny incision that closes within a few hours.

Our team is especially attentive to the patient’s comfort during the procedure. Music therapy is proposed to help patients more fully relax, and a nurse stays with the patient for the duration of the procedure.

The post-operative phase is typically very simple and painless, and patients can resume their everyday activities as soon as they return home.

This treatment results in the complete destruction of the tumor almost 100 percent of the time, as long as all the criteria for cryotherapy have been met. That is why each patient’s case must be discussed beforehand during a multidisciplinary team meeting. According to the largest study published to date on the treatment of small, low grade tumors with a good prognosis, more than 99 percent of the tumors showed no sign of recurrence after an average of 35 months of follow-up monitoring.

Cryotherapy’s main advantage is that it is minimally invasive. Similar to a breast biopsy, it is performed on an outpatient basis, with no need for hospitalization. When cryotherapy is performed under the proper conditions, the post-operative phase is very simple and patients can resume their normal activities on the same day.

La cryothérapie du cancer du sein est une technique mini-invasive de radiologie interventionnelle, réalisée en ambulatoire sous anesthésie locale. Les effets secondaires sont extrêmement faibles et le taux de complications majeures est inférieur à 1%. Seuls quelques cas d’infection post-opératoire ou de formation d’hématome ont été rapportés (mais dans des proportions inférieures à l’intervention chirurgicale).

Une première consultation est réalisée 1 mois après la procédure afin de s’assurer de la bonne évolution clinique. Deux autres consultations sont réalisées à 6 puis 12 mois. De plus, l’Hôpital Américain de Paris dispose d’une astreinte joignable 24h/24 et 7j/7 en cas de problèmes ou questionnements.