title: Cryotherapy protocols for metastatic breast cancer after failure of radical surgery.
abstract: To retrospectively assess the effect of cryotherapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) but without local recurrence after resection of the primary lesion, we divided 120 MBC patients into cryotherapy (91 patients) and chemotherapy (29 patients) groups. In the cryotherapy group, 37 patients with tumor recurrence received multiple cryoablations, while 54 patients received only a single cryoablation. Moreover, 62 cryotherapy-group patients underwent cryoablation immediately after the detection of metastases (timely cryotherapy); 35 patients received simultaneous immunotherapy (cryo-immunotherapy), and 29 patients underwent cryoablation in our hospital 3 months after receiving chemotherapy in other centers (chemo-cryotherapy and delayed cryotherapy). Overall survival (OS) after the diagnosis of MBC was assessed after a 10-year follow-up. The median OS was higher in the cryotherapy group (55 months) than in the chemotherapy group (27 months; P<0.0001). In the cryotherapy group, longer median OS was associated with multiple (76 months) rather than single cryoablations (48 months; P=0.0005) and with timely (67 months) rather than delayed cryoablation (48 months; P=0.0012). The median OS was higher after cryo-immunotherapy (83 months) than after chemo-cryotherapy (48 months) or cryotherapy alone (43 months; P<0.0001 for both). In conclusion, timely and multiple cryoablations, especially when combined with immunotherapy, offer significant advantages over chemotherapy in extending the OS of MBC patients.
authors.affiliation: Fuda Cancer Hospital, Jinan University School of Medicine, No 2 Tangdexi Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510665, China.
authors.forename: Lizhi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Changming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yongqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Weiqun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chunyan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jianying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Jibing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jialiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jiansheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.forename: Kecheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000009:adverse effects; D017679:Cryotherapy / Q000379:methods; D055612:Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells / Q000276:immunology; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents