According to the latest studies by the American Cancer Society (ACS), more than 190,000 women had breast cancer in 1996 (ACS Breast). In terms of severity, breast cancer occurs immediately after lung cancer, causing the death of hundreds of women every year. But the good thing is that there are several options available to treat breast cancer patients.

The latest innovative therapies may be an alternative to traditional therapies for breast cancer patients. These therapies include cryosurgical ablation (ASC), knife seed treatment (brachytherapy), percutaneous ablation, combined immunotherapy and targeted chemotherapy.

Cryosurgical Ablation (ASC):

Cryosurgery is an significant ablation method for breast cancer. Destroy cancer by freezing and thawing cycles. The destructive effects of cryosurgery on cancer are due to two main mechanisms, one immediate and one delayed. The immediate mechanism is the damaging effect of freezing and thawing cells. The delayed mechanism is the progressive failure of the microcirculation; in the long term, vascular stasis becomes an important cause of tumor tissue destruction. When the temperature drops below -40 ° C, ice crystals can form in the cells. Once this happens, cell death is almost certain. During cryosurgery, the microcirculation is progressively failing due to a cascade of events: destruction of the endothelial layer that causes porosity of the vascular walls, platelet aggregation, interstitial edema, microtrombos and, finally, vascular congestion and obliteration. It has been theorized that during cryosurgery, the host`s immune system was sensitized to the destruction of the tumor by cryosurgery. Any primary tumor tissue intact by cryosurgery and metastasis was destroyed by the immune system after cryosurgery. This response has been called "cryoimmune response".

Seed Knife Therapy (Brachytherapy)

Seed knife therapy (brachytherapy) is used to treat breast cancer. Implantation of seeds with iodine 125 or palladium 103 seeds (brachytherapy) is an extremely useful treatment for cancer patients. Brachytherapy does not require any surgical incision, offers patients a shorter recovery time and is less likely to cause bothersome side effects. For example, for prostate cancer, brachytherapy is an outpatient procedure and most patients return home the same day of their treatment. They can also resume normal activities a few days after treatment. Seed implantation takes just 40 minutes to 1 hour. Seed implantation with iodine-125 seeds results in a lower radiation dose rate than palladium-103. Because iodine-125 works longer in your body than palladium-103, it is ideal for treating slow-growing cancer, like most prostate cancers. The 125 iodine seeds, which have a half-life of 59 days, release a short gamma ray path. Seeds implanted in cancerous masses and surrounding tissue radiate specific cells and eventually destroy cancer. This avoids unnecessarily exposing the entire body to radiation.

Percutaneous Ablation

Thermal damage to cells begins at 42? Only 8 minutes to 46? Is it necessary to kill the malignant cells and 51? It can be deadly after only 2 minutes. At temperatures above 60? Intracellular proteins rapidly denature (die), cell membranes are destroyed by dissolution and fusion of lipid bilayers, and finally, cell death is inevitable. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a new technique to treat cancer located in certain organs. A needle electrode is advanced in cancer directed by a percutaneous, laparoscopic or open (operation) route. RF energy heats the tissue around the tip of the probe at an elevated temperature above which cells separate and die. For the eradication of all cancer cells, the goal is to place the probes to destroy the entire tumor, as well as an adequate "edge" of non-cancerous tissue around it.

Combined Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy, also known as CIC Combined Immunotherapy against Cancer, is increasingly at the center of cancer research. In the last 10 years, we have better understood immunovigilance and the mechanisms by which cancer escape their notoriety. This has led to the development of promising new cancer strategies, such as immunotherapy, which aims to strengthen the body`s natural immune functions against cancer cells.

Targeted Chemotherapy

Targeted chemotherapy may be an alternative because it leaves a minimal side effect compared to traditional chemotherapy. Targeted therapies are medications or other substances designed to block the growth and spread of cancer by preventing cancer cells from dividing or destroying directly. Although standard chemotherapy influences all cells in the body, targeted therapy wants medications or other specially created substances to attack cancer cells. The goal of targeted therapy is to interfere with the genes or proteins involved in tumor growth to block the spread of the disease.

By targeting specific molecules responsible for the growth, progression and spread of cancer, targeted therapy differs from standard chemotherapy, which attacks the disease systemically and, therefore, also damages healthy cells. Since targeted therapy specifically looks for cancer cells, it is designed to reduce damage to healthy cells, which can cause fewer side effects than standard chemotherapy.

Targeted therapies provide the basis for precision medicine, which uses information about a tumor`s DNA profile to identify additional treatment options. Personalized treatments address the abnormalities that may appear in the DNA profile of each tumor. This innovation marks the transition from traditional treatments designed for the average patient to more precise treatments.

Targeted therapy is a changing science and not all types of cancer can be treated with specific medications. The US Food and Drug Administration use in several targeted therapies for cancer treatment, including signal transduction inhibitors, hormonal therapies, gene expression modulators, apoptosis inducers, angiogenesis inhibitors and toxin administration molecules.