According to an abstract presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons meeting in Phoenix, for select breast cancer patients, radiofrequency ablation of the breast tumor excision site can be used instead of radiation therapy, thereby cutting down treatment time substantially without compromising care.
Surgery and ablation for 3-cm or smaller, node-negative breast tumors yielded a local recurrence rate of 1.4% after nearly five years of follow-up, according to Misti Wilson, MD, of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock and her fellow researchers.
The results are admittedly from an uncontrolled 73 patient study, but they put the technique on a similar plane with partial breast irradiation.
Again, the technique can only replace radiation in patients with small tumors and clinically negative nodes, according to Wilson.
Not only is radiofrequency ablation significantly shorter in terms of treatment times, and will assure that more patients receive the treatment, it is also substantially less expensive.
Source: Medpage Today
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