New Delhi: What began as a routine health check-up led to the detection of a lump that was confirmed as cancerous. While the tumour was small, around 15mm, its location close to the heart and the patient’s advanced age made surgery a high-risk option. Cardiologists advised against an operation and the 77-year-old woman’s family was also reluctant to proceed with it.Doctors at a private hospital then offered cryoablation, a minimally invasive procedure that treats cancer by freezing it. She was treated successfully — without surgery, without cuts and without stitches — and was discharged just two hours after the procedure.
Cryoablation is not new to medicine and is being used internationally for several years to treat tumours in organs such as liver, kidney and prostate. Its use for breast cancer, however, remains limited and selective. In India, only a few centres began offering the procedure in recent years, making it an emerging option rather than a routine alternative to surgery.Doctors say cryoablation is being considered for carefully selected patients with early-stage breast cancer who are medically unfit for surgery or choose not to undergo it. While surgery remains the standard first line of treatment, this technique may be used in specific cases after detailed evaluation and counselling. At Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, doctors have begun using cryoablation in such selected cases.Dr Ramesh Sareen, senior consultant and lead breast surgical oncologist at Apollo, told TOI that the procedure was performed under local anaesthesia. Doctors first locate the tumour using ultrasound, administer a small injection and make a tiny incision — so small that no stitches are required. A thin probe, known as a cryoprobe, is then inserted into the tumour, and controlled freeze-thaw cycles are applied to destroy cancer cells. The entire process usually takes around 30 minutes, depending on the tumour size, and the treated tissue is gradually absorbed by the body.Dr Sareen said that in selected cases, tumours measuring up to 3-3.5cm could be ablated using this technique. Patients are then followed up for six months to a year to monitor response and long-term outcomes.Because there is no surgical incision or general anaesthesia, patients usually do not need to stay in hospital. This leads to faster recovery, less pain, minimal scarring and good cosmetic outcomes — benefits that are particularly relevant for elderly patients or those with other medical conditions, doctors point out. Doctors involved in the procedure, including Dr Sareen, Dr Shelly Sharma and Dr Parag Sharma, stress that cryoablation is suitable only for a small group of early-stage patients with localised disease. However, with breast cancer being the most common cancer among women in India and early detection improving, doctors believe such minimally invasive approaches could play a growing role in patient-centred cancer care.
