MRI Findings After Cryoablation of Primary Breast Cancer Without Surgical Resection

Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography findings after percutaneous cryoablation of early breast cancer

“…Only one study has reported imaging findings after breast cryoablation [11]. In that study, suspicious enhancement on breast MRI after cryoablation was observed in 7 of 54 patients (13.0%); however, the shape of the treated area was not reported.…”

“…18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has shown usefulness in detecting extraaxillary nodal involvement and distant metastases and may be the first whole-body imaging modality for restaging patients who are suspected of, or known to have, recurrence [ 10 ]. Although detection of residual tumor and recurrence after breast cryoablation is crucial, there are few published studies of imaging findings post-breast cryoablation [ 11 ].…”

<p>Cryoablation In The Management Of Breast Cancer: Evidence To Date</p>

“…Literature search reveals a high heterogeneity on this topic. Some studies enrolled a small number of patients at various stages of disease,18,33 in others surgical tumor removal was performed after cryoablation,31,34 and in others again percutaneous ablation was the only modality of treatment,6,35 thus reliable conclusions on the usefulness of cryoablation in the subgroup with early breast cancer could not be drawn.…”

“…It has widely been used for planning surgical treatment in selected patients with invasive breast cancer and DCIS, and for assessing response to neoadjuvant systemic therapy 40,41. After cryoablation treatment, damaged cancer cells stay located in the treated area, thus MRI may be the most accurate image tool for evaluating responses to cryoablation 6,34,42. Manenti et al reported a good correlation between MRI volume and histological samples size in their series of 80 patients submitted to either radiofrequency ablation or cryoablation and surgical removal of the tumor 34.…”

“…Ablation techniques offer the advantage of being done percutaneously under image guidance, thus obtaining in general low rates of complications and patients’ discomfort. As regards breast cancer, a large amount of articles in the recent literature reports on the use of radiofrequency, microwave ablation, cryoablation, interstitial laser therapy, and focused ultrasound in different clinical scenarios 3,6–9. Among them, cryoablation represents an emerging treatment, which has been used in the treatment of both benign and malignant breast diseases.…”