Monday, December 10, 2012

Pioneering breast cancer treatment freezes tumours into a ball of ice which kills harmful tissue


link
◼ Needle cooled to -170C with liquid nitrogen repeatedly inserted into cancerous tissue
◼ Device turns cancerous tumour into 'ball of ice'
◼ Technique developed by Israel-based firm could be completed in 15 minutes without need for surgery
◼ Cryoablation could one day be used to treat kidney, prostate and liver cancer
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....

The device has already been approved for use in the United States and IceCure is hopeful of getting European approval next year....MORE AT THE LINK