Reference

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When breast cancer advances, it can spread (that is, metastasize) to the liver. German researchers now report that laser therapy, which can be performed on an outpatient basis, suppresses these liver tumors and is as effective as surgery for extending survival.

The technique, called laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT), heats and kills tumor cells. In 232 women with breast cancer who had a total of 578 liver metastases, LITT resulted in average survival of nearly 5 years after diagnosis, the researchers report in the medical journal Radiology.

Average survival of breast cancer patients after a diagnosis of liver metastases is normally 4 to 8 months, Dr. Martin G. Mack of University Hospital Frankfurt and colleagues note. With chemotherapy and hormonal treatment, the current "mainstay" of treatment for these patients, they add, survival averages 4 to 17 months.

 

Document Date: 2004/10/27   Author: unknown

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