High intensity focused ultrasound in the treatment of breast fibroadenomata: Results of the HIFU-F feasibility trialObjectives: Breast fibroadenomata (FAD) are the most common breast lumps in women. High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a non-invasive ablative technique that can be used to treat FAD but is associated with prolonged treatment times. In the HIFU-F trial, we evaluated the change in volume over time with circumferential HIFU treatment of FAD and compare this to no treatment.Methods: Patients ≥18 years, diagnosed with symptomatic, palpable FAD, visible on ultrasound (US) were recruited. Twenty patients were treated using the US-guided-HIFU under local anaesthesia. Another 20 participants underwent an US six months after diagnosis. Outcome measures included: reduction in treatment time compared to whole lesion ablation; feasibility to achieve a 50% reduction in volume after six months; decrease in volume compared to a control group and reduction in symptoms.Results: Circumferential ablation reduced the mean treatment time by 37.5% (SD 20.1%) compared to whole lesion ablation. US demonstrated a significant mean reduction in FAD volume of 43.5% (SD 38.8%; p=0.016, paired t-test) in the HIFU group compared to 4.6% (SD 46.0%; p=0.530) in the control group after six months. This mean reduction in FAD volume between the two groups was significant in favour of the HIFU group (p=0.002, grouped t-test). Pre-treatment pain completely resolved in six out of eight patients six months post-treatment.Conclusion: Circumferential HIFU ablation of FAD is feasible, with a significant reduction in pain and volume compared to control participants. It provides a simple, non-invasive, outpatient -based alternative to surgical excision for FAD.ISRCTN registration: 76622747

The magnetic technique for SLNB is non-inferior to the standard technique, with a high identification rate but with a significantly higher lymph node retrieval rate.

Circumferential HIFU treatment for breast fibroadenomata is feasible to reduce both lesion size and treatment time. HIFU is a non-invasive alternative technique for the treatment of breast fibroadenomata. ISRCTN registration: 76622747.

HIFU treatment can induce coagulative necrosis in breast cancers. Complete ablation has not been reported consistently on histopathology and no imaging modality has been able confidently to predict the percentage of complete ablation. Consistent tumour and margin necrosis with reliable follow-up imaging are required before HIFU ablation can be evaluated within large, prospective clinical trials.

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a minimally invasive technique that has been used for the treatment of both benign and malignant tumours. With HIFU, an ultrasound (US) beam propagates through soft tissue as a high-frequency pressure wave. The US beam is focused at a small target volume, and due to the energy building up at this site, the temperature rises, causing coagulative necrosis and protein denaturation within a few seconds. HIFU is capable of providing a completely non-invasive treatment without causing damage to the directly adjacent tissues. HIFU can be either guided by US or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Guided imaging is used to plan the treatment, detect any movement during the treatment and monitor response in real-time. This review describes the history of HIFU, the HIFU technique, available devices and gives an overview of the published literature in the treatment of benign and malignant breast tumours with HIFU.

Purpose: Breast conserving surgery is effective for breast cancer treatment but is associated with morbidity in particular high re-excision rates. We performed a systematic review to assess the current evidence for clinical outcomes with minimally invasive ablative techniques in the non-surgical treatment of breast cancer.Methods: A systematic search of the literature was performed using PubMed and Medline library databases to identify all studies published between 1994 and May 2016. Studies were considered eligible for inclusion if they evaluated the role of ablative techniques in the treatment of breast cancer and included ten patients or more. Studies that failed to fulfil the inclusion criteria were excluded. Results:We identified 63 studies including 1608 patients whose breast tumours were treated with radiofrequency (RFA), high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), cryo-, laser or microwave ablation. Fifty studies reported on the number of patients with complete ablation as found on histopathology and the highest rate of complete ablation was achieved with RFA (87.1%, 491/564) and microwave ablation (83.2%, 89/107). Short-term complications were most often reported with microwave ablation (14.6%, 21/144). Recurrence was reported in 24 patients (4.2%, 24/570) and most often with laser ablation (10.7%, 11/103). The shortest treatment times were observed with RFA (15.6±5.6 minutes) and the longest with HIFU (101.5±46.6 minutes).

The combined technique (radioisotope and blue dye) is the gold standard for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and there is wide variation in techniques and blue dyes used. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the need for radioisotope and the optimal blue dye for SLNB. A total of 21 studies were included. The SLNB identification rates are high with all the commonly used blue dyes. Furthermore, methylene blue is superior to iso-sulfan blue and Patent Blue V with respect to false-negative rates. The combined technique remains the most accurate and effective technique for SLNB. In order to standardize the SLNB technique, comparative trials to determine the most effective blue dye and national guidelines are required.

Minimally invasive techniques like high intensity focused ultrasound, radiofrequency ablation, cryo-ablation, laser ablation and microwave ablation have been used to treat both breast fibroadenomata and breast cancer as an alternative to surgical excision, potentially reducing the complications, improving cosmesis and reducing hospital stay. This review describes the most common minimally invasive techniques available, their history and some of the studies performed with these techniques in both benign and malignant lesions. In addition we described some of the difficulties of using these minimally invasive techniques such as optimization of anaesthesia, imaging and immobilisation in order to increase the complete histopathological ablation rates.