Non-surgical ablation is emerging as an alternative local therapy option for patients with early-stage breast cancer and encompasses two main types of percutaneous therapeutic procedures: radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation. Both techniques involve obliteration of a spherical lesion and feasibility studies have shown that complete tumour ablation is achievable with good or excellent cosmetic results. Although few clinical studies have directly compared non-surgical ablation with conventional surgical resection, observational studies indicate that clinical outcomes are favourable with acceptable rates of local control and no detriment to long-term survival. There remain outstanding issues with these percutaneous ablative techniques that require resolution before they could be incorporated into routine clinical practice. Hence, a consensus meeting was convened to discuss the challenges of non-surgical ablation and clarify indications for its use alongside clinical management pathways. In this Policy Review we will address some of the broader biological aspects of non-surgical ablation, including immune-modulatory effects and potential novel applications for the future.

中文翻译：

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乳腺癌非手术消融：一种新兴的治疗选择


非手术消融正在成为早期乳腺癌患者的替代局部治疗选择，包括两种主要类型的经皮治疗程序：​​射频消融和冷冻消融。这两种技术都涉及消除球形病灶，可行性研究表明，可以实现肿瘤的完全消融，并获得良好或极好的美容效果。尽管很少有临床研究直接比较非手术消融与传统手术切除，但观察性研究表明，临床结果良好，局部控制率可接受，并且不损害长期生存。这些经皮消融技术仍然存在突出问题，需要解决之后才能纳入常规临床实践。因此，召开了一次共识会议，讨论非手术消融的挑战，并阐明其与临床管理路径一起使用的适应症。在本次政策审查中，我们将讨论非手术消融的一些更广泛的生物学方面，包括免疫调节作用和未来潜在的新应用。