Surgery may soon be a thing of the past for breast cancer
patients, thanks to a new technique that destroys tumours by freezing them.
A supercooled needle tip is repeatedly inserted into the
cancerous tissue to turn it into a ball of ice, before it is then defrosted,
leaving the tumour damaged. Not requiring anaesthetic, the technique can be
completed in about 15 minutes and could provide a better alternative to the
current method of surgery, which requires women to stay in hospital for up to a
week and can leave scars.
Thirty breast cancer patients are currently trialling the
system, which uses a needle cooled to -170C (-274F) by pumping liquid nitrogen
through a network of tiny tubes.
The surgeon can control the size of the ice ball produced
to ensure it freezes the entire tumour in a procedure known as cryoablation.
Scientists from the Israel-based company IceCure Medical,
which developed the device, say it could be used on cancerous masses up to the
size of a golf ball. 'There have been attempts before to use heat to destroy
cancer cells like this, but that can be extremely painful because our bodies
are very sensitive to heat,' chief executive Hezi Himmelfarb told The Sunday
Telegraph. 'Cold has an anaesthetising effect, so the patients feel very little
pain during or after the procedure. 'We have developed the system so it can be
carried out in a normal doctors' surgery as it is minimally invasive and
relatively quick.'
The device could help some of the 50,000 women annually
diagnosed in the UK with breast cancer.
Each year, around 39,000 lumpectomies are carried out,
which involves the surgical removal of a lump from the breast.
One in five women need further surgery after a
lumpectomy, because not all the cancerous tissue is removed.
The device has already been approved for use in the
United States and IceCure is hopeful of getting European approval next year.
Scientists believe cryoablation could also be used to
treat kidney, prostate and liver cancer.
Source:DAILYMAIL UK
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