A CORRECTION

I got mixed up in my explanation of the various dilutions of homeopathic medicines. When I wrote two weeks ago that a "30C dilution" means that there is 1 molecule in "10 to the minus sixty molecules of inert solvent," I added the word "minus" incorrectly. What I meant to say was that there was 1 such molecule in "10 to the sixty" molecules of inert solvent. Similarly, when I wrote that a 200C dilution means that there is a single molecule of pokeweed in "10 to the minus 400" molecules of solvent I meant to say "10 to the 400." Forget the minuses! This mathematical error in no way affects the validity of the study in question or what I wrote about it. (My thanks to the readers who kindly pointed this out to me.)

BIG BOOST FOR CRYOABLATION

Cryoablation (also called cryosurgery) is a "new" treatment for breast cancer that has been waiting in the wings for decades. While fairly often used in prostate cancer, the use of cold probes to destroy breast or other types of tumors has never been widely accepted. Recently, however, the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center announced some very exciting results. They found that quickly freezing a tumor not only kills that tumor but also stops the spread of the disease. With rapid freezing, there was improved survival compared to surgery alone.

Researchers compared two cryoablation techniques, both of which involve freezing a breast tumor with a cold probe. The first method involved freezing the tumor rapidly, in about 30 seconds. The other involved freezing it more slowly, over a few minutes. Results of these two methods were then compared with results in mice whose tumors were simply removed by surgery.

Both cryoablation techniques successful destroyed the primary breast tumor. But the mice who were treated with the rapid-freezing technique had fewer subsequent lung metastases and had longer survival compared to mice treated with surgery alone or mice treated with the slower freezing technique. The authors believe that rapid freezing triggers an immune response that helps kill the tumor.

"Cryoablation has strong potential as a treatment for breast cancer," said Michael Sabel, MD, of the University of Michigan Medical School. "Not only does it appear effective in treating the primary tumor with little cosmetic concerns, but it also may stimulate an immune response capable of eradicating any cells that have traveled throughout the body, reducing both local and distant recurrence, similar to giving a breast cancer vaccine."

The Michigan authors are now involved in a clinical trial of rapid-freeze cryotherapy in human breast cancer patients. For more information about the study, contact the U-M Cancer AnswerLine at 800-865-1125.

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

References

Sabel MS, Su G, Griffith KA, Chang AE. Rate of freeze alters the immunologic response after cryoablation of breast cancer. Ann Surg Oncol. 2009. Available at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20033323 [Accessed March 4, 2010].

U of M Press Release:
http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?ID=1501

Blackwood J, Moore FT, Pace WG. Cryotherapy for malignant tumors. Cryobiology. 1967;4:33-8.

Rand RW, Rand RP, Eggerding FA, Field M, Denbesten L, King W, Camici S. Cryolumpectomy for breast cancer: an experimental study. Cryobiology. 1985;22:307-18.

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