minimally-invasive procedures Archives

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Cryotherapy for Early Stage Breast Cancer - Top Docs Radio

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Cryotherapy for Early Stage Breast Cancer

On this week’s episode I sat down with award-winning Atlanta-area breast surgeon, Dr. April Speed regarding treatment options for breast cancers, including cryotherapy. She shared what motivated her to enter the medical field as her chosen profession and how she is pleased to have brought her expertise in treating cancers of the breast to a community that has limited access to cancer care.

Dr. Speed discussed the process through which she determines best course of action for treating a worrisome lump of the breast, be that a lumpectomy (removing the lump but leaving the healthy breast tissue), mastectomy (removing the affected breast), or a minimally-invasive approach.

Given the short recovery time of the minimally-invasive option, it is desirable when the tumor type and size fall within established guidelines. In many cases, patients are able to return to work the same day and typically results in less pain for them. One such procedure is the Visica 2 Procedure, made by Sanarus. (Visica 2 is the Treatment system, the Visica Procedure is the procedure.)

This technology allows the breast surgeon to use a small, super-cooled probe that is guided to the abnormal tissue within the breast by imagery. The probe is below freezing, and is used to freeze the cancerous tissue, destroying it. Over time, once the procedure is complete, the destroyed tissue is slowly reabsorbed.

I was pleased to talk about this with Dr. Speed, as she is one of fewer than 10 breast surgeons in the state of Georgia who are able to perform this minimally-invasive, early stage breast cancer treatment.

About Sanarus/the Visica Procedure – In 2001, the Visica® Treatment System was the first system available for cryoablation of fibroadenomas. Since then, our systems have been used to successfully treat thousands of patients. Since 2007, the Visica 2 Treatment System has been used to treat cancer in hundreds of cryoablation-assisted surgeries and dozens of cryoablation-only procedures in clinical trials.

Disclaimer: The Visica 2 Treatment system is FDA-cleared for the ablation of cancerous or malignant tissue and benign tumors. It’s been used in over 5,000 cryo-assisted surgeries and cryo-only procedures.

Special Guest:

Dr. April Speed, MD, Global Breast Health & Wellness Center; Just Breast, LLC

Doctor of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine
Residency, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Board of Directors, Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Board of Directors, Southeastern Primary Care Consortium

Interventional Radiology

We talked interventional radiology with Dr. John Lipman of Atlanta Interventional Institute on this week’s show. Interventional radiologists are radiologists who are trained to perform a wide array of procedures using various radiologic images to guide their work.

In fact, as Dr. Lipman explained, it was interventional radiologists who invented the technology to perform procedures such as balloon angioplasty that was later used to open blocked arteries in the heart.

We talked about uterine fibroid embolization, a minimally-invasive procedure where a catheter is passed into the femoral artery and maneuvered to the arteries feeding uterine fibroids, where a chemical is instilled, caused the vessel to occlude. This blocks bloodflow to the fibroid, causing it to shrink and die, allowing for easy removal.

The alternative for these women is hysterectomy, which is the surgical removal of the uterus, after which, the woman will need to take hormones to compensate for its loss. Additionally, it takes days longer to recover from the surgery and bears the risk of anesthesia and post-surgical infection.

Dr. Lipman talked about other procedures interventional radiologists are able to perform such as treatment of migraine headaches, and reversing infertility related to blocked fallopian tubes.

It is important for patients and their loved ones to be sure to ask lots of questions and to inquire about other available treatment options when surgery is recommended, particularly when it involves removal of an organ or amputation.

In this way, patients can limit risk associated with surgery in many cases, and save cost and time away from work. Dr. Lipman offered a number of questions patients and loved ones can ask to determine if an interventional radiologist is the one they should choose.