Amaral Carvalho Hospital performs first cryoablation on patient with breast cancer

The Amaral Carvalho Hospital (HAC), in Jaú (SP), performed, for the first time, a cryoablation procedure on a patient with breast cancer.

The technique was applied on August 26th and is part of an international clinical trial, considered a pioneer in Latin America.

The procedure was carried out by doctors João Ricardo Auler Paloschi, from HAC, and Vanessa Sanvido, main investigator of the study from the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) and Hospital do Coração (HCor), with support from the hospital's mastology team.

How does it work?

Cryoablation is a minimally invasive technique that uses tumor freezing to destroy cancer cells. The method is studied for cases of breast cancer diagnosed at an early stage.

Unlike conventional surgery, which generally requires a surgical center, general anesthesia and a period of hospitalization, cryoablation is performed in an outpatient setting with local anesthesia.

"The technique consists of freezing the tumor. In the standard procedure, we go to the surgical center with general anesthesia, remove the tumor area and there is a period of hospitalization. Cryoablation is carried out under ultrasound guidance, with local anesthesia. We insert a cannula into the lesion and freeze it using liquid nitrogen", explains Paloschi.

During the procedure, the equipment can reach temperatures of up to -160 °C, freezing the tumor and a safety margin around the lesion. The freezing cycle is performed twice in the same session.

At the end, the cannula is removed through a small hole in the skin, without the need for surgical stitches. The patient does not need to remain hospitalized and can return home the same day, with guidance on the use of simple analgesics, if necessary.

The first patient who underwent the procedure in Jaú is still undergoing medical monitoring, in accordance with the protocols established in the research, and is recovering well.

Possible change in treatment

The ongoing study is considered the largest global research project on the effectiveness of cryoablation in the treatment of breast cancer.

The researchers' objective is to gather scientific data that allows the safety and effectiveness of the technique to be assessed and, subsequently, contribute to the standardization of the procedure.

If the results confirm the effectiveness of the method, the experts' expectation is that the technique can, in the future, be incorporated into the Unified Health System (SUS).

"It is a technique that aims to change the paradigm of breast cancer treatment in early disease. If this becomes a standard technique in the world, the SUS must incorporate this type of procedure", says Paloschi.

breast cancer

Breast cancer is the type of cancer that most affects and causes deaths among women in Brazil. According to the National Cancer Institute (Inca), there are an estimated 74 thousand new cases of the disease per year in the country.