Cancer therapy tested

BURBANK — A Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center surgeon became one of the first doctors in the country Monday to treat early-stage breast cancer patients using a technique that neutralizes tumors by essentially freezing them.

Dr. Deanna Attai began treatment of two Southern California women taking part in the clinical trial that explores the use of noninvasive cryoablation therapy, a technique in which doctors inject liquid nitrogen into the center of a tumor, cooling the tissue to minus 160 degrees Celsius.

“Essentially, we’re killing the cancer cells on the spot,” said Attai, a Burbank-based surgeon who, along with doctors from New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, is participating in the 99-patient trial.

“We hesitate to use words like ‘groundbreaking’ and ‘landmark,’ and we don’t know where this is going to go. What we think is that it’s going to be very successful.”

Breast cancer forms in tissues of the breast, usually the lobules and ducts. In 2005, 186,467 women were diagnosed with the cancer and 41,116 died, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pamela Kalmus of Hollywood was diagnosed last month with breast cancer after her annual mammogram.

The 62-year-old vice president of a textile company said her doctor referred her to Attai.

“To be honest with you, I was like a deer in the headlights,” Kalmus said of the diagnosis.

“We have no history of breast cancer. Nobody in my family has it.”

Because the lump in her breast was discovered early, and is smaller than one-and-a-half by two centimeters, Kalmus qualified for the study, which was initiated by the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group and is being funded by the National Cancer Institute.

Doctors, including Attai, have used cryoablation therapy as a method to treat benign breast tumors, or fibroadenomas, for several years.

However, the trial, known officially as “A Phase II Trial Exploring the Success of Cryoablation Therapy in the Treatment of Invasive Breast Carcinoma,” is the first of its kind.

Lori Burrows, who discovered the trial on the Internet and underwent cryoablation therapy Monday, said the entire process took about 35 minutes.

First, Attai made a three-millimeter nick in the patient’s skin. Using ultrasound technology, the doctor then panned a probe, about the size of a hollow ballpoint pen, into the center of the tumor and pumped it full of liquid nitrogen.

The doctor then used a freeze-thaw-freeze method to cool the tissue.

For the purposes of the study, Attai took blood samples from the affected tissue before injecting the nitrogen, which will be compared with other tissue in the future

“I am not a doctor or scientist, and I don’t want to put it too lightly, but it’s kind of like removing a wart,” Kalmus said.

Both she and Burrows will likely undergo chemotherapy as well as a lumpectomy, where the tumor and portions of the surrounding tissue are removed.

Although it’s unclear, the type of therapy may also help guard against the recurring cancer cells, Attai said.

And, if the study proves successful, women who undergo cryoablation therapy in the future may be able to bypass invasive surgery all together.

Burrows, who works as a full-time caregiver for her 94-year-old mother, said she expects to pay about $10,000 for the treatment, not including the cost of cryoablation therapy, which is included in the study.

“Helping other women by being a part of this is a big bonus,” she said.

“We go through so much. It’s hard not to be supportive of a treatment than can prevent possible mutilation and give us an extra layer of protection.”