VICTORIA, BC  - A team of cancer specialists at the BC Cancer Agency and Victoria General Hospital have launched a promising new clinical trial aimed at more effective and less invasive treatment for breast cancer. Details of this study were announced today at the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Awareness Day breakfast.

In the first clinical trial of its kind in Canada, the Victoria research group uses a technique called "radiofrequency ablation" (RFA). The therapy works by inserting a small probe into the breast, guided by ultrasound. Once the probe reaches the tumour, it opens up into several sharp tines which deliver radiofrequency waves to kill the tumour.

Dr. Allen Hayashi, surgeon and principal investigator, Dr. Ivo Olivotto, researcher and radiation oncologist with the BC Cancer Agency, and Dr. Stuart Silver, radiologist, are leading the research to evaluate this treatment, and the degree of comfort patients have during and after the procedure.

"We have found that the patients already involved in the study easily tolerate the effects of the therapy, and that it does seem to kill the cancer cells with great precision," says Dr. Olivotto.

In the clinical trial - funded by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - women with biopsy-proven breast cancer are given the ablation therapy one week before surgery. The treated tumour is removed during surgery, and examined by a pathologist to confirm that the cancer cells were destroyed.

So far, the researchers have only tested this new treatment on small breast cancers. Preliminary findings suggest that RFA causes minimal discomfort, and the cancers are completely destroyed, leaving no cosmetic deformity aside from a small needle mark

Dr. Hayashi hopes if RFA proves successful, it will be an incentive for women to be vigilant in screening for breast cancer.

"Currently, there is little incentive for women to identify breast cancer at an early stage," explains Dr. Hayashi. "They must endure an uncomfortable mammogram, biopsy, and if cancer is detected, they anticipate a potentially disfiguring operation. If our research continues to demonstrate early findings, the reward for early detection of breast cancer could be a treatment that is precise and cosmetically pleasing."

The clinical trial began in January and will study the results from RFA on 22 women. Candidates for the clinical trial must be over the age of 60, and have a relatively small tumour that shows up on an ultrasound.

For more information, please contact:
Nicole Adams
BC Cancer Agency
(604) 877-6272