High-intensity focused ultrasound castration for breast cancer patients

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of external high-intensity focused ultrasound(HIFU) castration for breast cancerous patients after mastectomy if they are at a high risk of recurrence. Methods: We recruited 52 consecutive patients with primary operable breast cancer who were treated with mastectomy with excision of regional lymph nodes. Patients were positive for ER and PR immuno-cytochemical staining, node-positive, un-menopause, over 40 years old and were divided into two groups randomly. For castration, 26 patients received one or two times of HIFU treatment within five days, and the other patients received radiotherapy with DT 18Gy/9 f/11days. During and after the treatment, local changes and systemic response of the patients were observed. Results: After 1 month treatment, levels of serum El and E2 were significantly decreased compared to before treatment in HIFU groups (P<0.01 andP<0.001). The same changes were occurred in radiotherapy(RT) groups (P<0.05 andP<0.01). The levels of serum El or E2 in RT groups were higher than in HIFU groups (P<0.05). The symptom distribution of ‘climacteric syndrome’ of HIFU groups were significantly different from RT groups (P<0.01). The follow-up time was 4 months. The incidence of amenorrhea was 100% in all patients. No serious complications were seen. The temperature, pulse, blood pressure, and respiratory rate of the patients were almost normal. Conclusion: We have shown that the use of HIFU in the castrating of patients with breast cancer is feasible, safe and effective. This technology may provide a rapid noninvasive alterative to conventional bilateral oophorectomy or RT castration.