Breast cryoablation for small, low-risk breast cancers: Current evidence, practical integration, and future directions - 02/06/26
, Youlia Kirova b, Corinne Balleyguier c, Lambros Tselikas c, Olivier Seror d, Léo Razakamanantsoa e, Isabelle Thomassin-Naggara e, Cédric de Bazelaire f, Albane Ray g, Julien Frandon h, Michaël Dassa i, Thibault Poclet j, Jean Palussière k, Federica Di Naro l, Jacopo Nori Cucchiari l, Margaux Court m, Nicolas Pouget n, Anne Vincent-Salomon o, Vincent Servois a, Florence Coussy p, Caroline Malhaire a, Etienne Brain p, Florence Rollot q, Camille Chakiba-Brugère r, Hervé J. Brisse a, Fatima Laki nHighlights |
• | Breast cryoablation is an effective local treatment for carefully selected small low-risk breast cancers, with high complete-ablation rates in ultrasound-visible hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative invasive ductal carcinomas. |
• | The success of breast cryoablation depends on imaging. This includes accurate radiologic-pathologic selection, exclusion of occult multifocal disease, and confirmation of adequate ablative margins. |
• | Prospective studies of nitrogen-based cryoablation support this approach as a clinically relevant alternative to lumpectomy in a defined low-risk setting and provide the foundation for broader integration through standardized pathways and comparative trials. |
Abstract |
Breast cryoablation has emerged as a minimally invasive alternative to lumpectomy for selected patients with small, biologically favorable breast cancers. Its appeal lies in the combination of focal tumor destruction, outpatient treatment under local anesthesia, low procedural burden, and potentially improved cosmetic and functional outcomes. However, cryoablation should not be viewed as a simple technical substitute for surgery: its oncologic credibility depends on appropriate tumor selection, accurate imaging-based staging, adequate ablative margins, and coherent integration with adjuvant therapy and follow-up. This review summarizes the current evidence on breast cryoablation, focusing on biological rationale, validation studies with surgical confirmation, prospective non-excision cohorts, practical indications, and post-ablation imaging surveillance. Surgical-validation studies show that cryoablation can achieve high rates of complete tumor destruction, but mainly in a narrow subgroup of small, ultrasound-visible, hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative invasive ductal carcinomas, particularly those measuring 15–20 mm or less. These studies also show that failure often reflects occult multifocality or underestimation of microscopic disease extent rather than failure to destroy the index lesion itself. Prospective non-excision studies, particularly ICE3 and FROST, have moved the field beyond feasibility alone. In highly selected older women with low-risk tumors, ICE3 reported a low 5-year ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence rate of 4.3%, while FROST showed similarly encouraging local control, with a 5-year ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence rate of 3.6%, and underscored the importance of structured post-ablation verification. These results also reflect technical progress, as single-probe liquid nitrogen platforms have simplified and standardized treatment delivery compared with earlier multi-probe approaches. Current evidence therefore supports cryoablation only within a narrow clinical setting. Broader adoption will require standardized patient selection, harmonised adjuvant strategies, robust imaging follow-up, and comparative trials against surgery or endocrine therapy-based approaches.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Breast cancer, Breast imaging, Cryoablation, Local treatment de-escalation, Minimally invasive treatment, Percutaneous ablation
Abbreviations : AE, CEM, DCIS, FROST, HER2, HR, IBTR, ICE3, IDC, MRI, SLNB
Plan
Bienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
L’accès au texte intégral de cet article nécessite un abonnement.
Déjà abonné à cette revue ?
