In breakthrough research doctors have developed a new treatment, which kill breast cancer cell by coking them. The technique used an electrical current to heat tumour cells, which kills those cells in just ten minutes. The patient can back to work shortly afterwards.
The treatment called as Preferential Radio-Frequency Ablation is being initiated by doctors from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden is conducted under local anaesthetic. The new treatment could become an option to surgery for women suffering an early stage breast cancer. Analogous treatments those using radio-frequency ablation are previously being used to treat kidney, liver and bone cancers.
According to Dr Karin Leifland, the radiologist and supervising the research, the tumour is heated to such an extent that the cancer cells are destroyed, while leaving the surrounding tissue undamaged. The treatment is appropriate largely for women with tumours which are smaller than two cm and are contained in a single lump.
There occurs no pain or scar subsequent to the treatment and within minutes of the treatment, women can leave the hospital and go home or back to work. The technology could be useful particularly for women having slow-growing breast cancers and are unable to undergo surgery because they are elderly or have underlying health conditions such as diabetes or respiratory problems.
After one, six and twelve months and then every year, women are checked with the help of MRI scans, mammograms and ultrasound to confirm the tumour is dead and the cancer has not spread. More than eighty percent of women have undergone this procedure as part of three studies and showed therapy to be effective.
Up till, patients have been followed up for up to two years, and none has had a recurrence of the disease. Dr Leifland added it is still a cheaper alternative than surgery as the woman does not need to stay in hospital overnight or have a general anaesthetic. Within five years, this could be a mainstream treatment.