Breast Cryoablation

Cryoablation is a minimally invasive treatment that uses a small needle with the cooling power of liquid nitrogen to freeze and destroy cancerous tumors. The Minimally Invasive Care Center at Princeton Radiology is the first facility in New Jersey to use cryoablation to treat patients with early-stage invasive breast cancer.

While removing tumors with traditional surgery requires a 10- to 12-inch incision, cryoablation only requires one 5-mm incision for surgical instruments. This makes cryoablation less invasive and an effective alternative for patients not suitable for surgery.

Princeton Radiology’s team is led by Kenneth Tomkovich, MD, who has been at the forefront in the research and practice of cryoablation for more than 20 years.

Guided by ultrasound, the probe is inserted into the tumor and liquid nitrogen generates sub-zero temperatures to turn the tumor into an ice ball. A freeze-thaw-freeze cycle destroys the targeted tissue immediately and leaves adjacent healthy tissue undamaged.

The benefits of cryoablation at the Minimally Invasive Care Center at Princeton Radiology include:

• 30-minute outpatient procedure performed with the patient awake under local anesthesia
• No need for an invasive lumpectomy surgery
• Minimal impact on surrounding tissue
• Most patients can resume normal activities the same day