Ultrasonography Findings Post Laser Ablation of Breast Carcinoma

Introduction: Minimal invasive treatment for breast cancer has been introduced under various technologies. Chief amongst them are ablation techniques like Laser, Radiofrequency , Micro-ablation and Cryo- ablation.

The advantages of laser Ablation are reduced procedure time and Real time visualization of tumour.

Material and Procedure: 12 patients were subject to laser ablation of tumour between 2008 and 2021. All patients were unwilling to undergo formal mastectomy and were in Stage 3 by Manchester classification. The patients were scanned by sonography and histopathological diagnosis was obtained by Tru-Cut biopsy. All patients were in BIRADS 4 and 5 category.

The procedure was performed under sonography control with 60W diode laser. The outer extent of ablation was taken to be 0.5-1.5 cms outside the visible margin of the tumor. The Lymph nodes were localized with help of Pet Scan / Sonography and were similarly laserised.

Results: The sonography images were obtained immediately and at 2-3month intervals. The findings were corroborated by PET scans taken at 3 monthly intervals for 1 year.

Conclusions: Laser Ablation is a viable procedure for necrosing the Breast cancer. It has the advantage of no mutilation or scarring. It can be repeated if there is any recurrence or new occurrence. Radiological changes after Laser Ablation are very predictable and sonologists need to be aware of the findings in view of increasing acceptability of Laser Ablation in treatment of Breast carcinoma in many centers around the world.