Breast Cancer Care During A Pandemic: The Right Time for Cryoablation

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a tremendous burden on the healthcare system, resulting in the postponement of elective surgical procedures to preserve limited hospital resources and minimize viral transmission. The American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, and multiple other surgical and cancer societies have endorsed a policy that recommends at least a 1.5-4 month delay of surgery for conditions that are not immediately life-threatening, including most cases of breast cancer. In place of surgery, the societies recommend a 6-12 month course of pre-operative anti-estrogen medications for most women with estrogen-sensitive breast cancer as a way of reducing cancer extent or preventing further cancer growth while withholding surgery until after the pandemic has ended. This recommendation potentially impacts the care of 70% of women diagnosed with breast cancer today.