Industry perspective: maximizing the benefit of improved detection with guided and monitored thermal ablation of small tumors.

The continuous growth of mammography is driven by global acceptance of the demonstrated ability of screening mammography to reduce mortality from breast cancer. An increasing number of benign and malignant tumors are being diagnosed as a result of the growth in mammography, improvements in technology, especially digital mammography, as well as by an increase in patient surveillance. Breast imaging technology for cancer screening continues to improve, with the integration of ultrasound with digital mammography showing promise that an even larger number of small abnormalities will be detected in screening programs. The results of minimally invasive ablative techniques as tested in pilot clinical studies for breast tumor ablation are reviewed. A new x-ray based thermal monitoring method is described. An improved ability to intraoperatively monitor thermal ablative methods may enable more accurate minimally invasive treatment of an ever increasing number of both benign and malignant breast tumors.