COLOR-CODED DUPLEX SONOGRAPHY - A SIMPLE IMAGING PROCEDURE FOR MONITORING LASER-INDUCED THERMOTHERAPY FOR LOCALLY RECURRENT BREAST-CANCER

Breast cancer is one of the most frequent causes of death in women. La ser-induced thermotherapy (LITT), a treatment modality that enables th e destruction of tumors in a minimally invasive way, has been used to treat different types of tumors. One major problem during the applicat ion of LITT is the on-line control of laser tissue effects. The effect of LITT as a palliative treatment for patients who had undergone conv entional pretreatment modalities (surgery, radiotherapy, and/or chemot herapy) and who were suffering from local recurrences of breast cancer was investigated. The laser used was a Nd:YAG laser with a wave-lengt h of 1064 nm. Heat expansion was controlled digitally and monitored by ultrasound and color-coded duplex sonography (CCDS), respectively. Th e extent of the coagulation zone was visible by use of B-scan ultrason ography. Thermal coagulation of the tumor was achieved without affecti ng the skin and without postoperative skin ulceration, with marked red uction in the tumor size. All patients are scheduled for long-term fol low-up. We found CCDS to be sensitive and efficient in providing infor mation about the tumor site and its surrounding structures, the accura te position of the laser fiber, the range of temperature development, and the volume of the coagulation zone. CCDS-guided interstitial laser therapy is a safe and minimally invasive method for palliative treatm ent of subcutaneous local recurrences of breast cancer.