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ADVOCACY
Artist Laura Ross-Paul’s painting career took an unexpected turn in 2003 with a breast cancer diagnosis. A lifelong figure painter and teacher, she refused to accept mastectomy as her only option. In line with the bold gestures often seen in her work, she sought out a cutting-edge alternative—cryoablation, or tumor freezing. The treatment preserved her breast and helped spark a growing medical shift. Today, cryoablation is used globally in tens of thousands of breast cancer cases, showing strong promise, especially in early-stage treatment.
This breakthrough pulled Laura into a new role as an advocate, trading studio time for global speaking engagements. Her experience exposed her to the political and cultural layers of medicine, and deepened her understanding of challenges faced by women around the world.
Her full story is told in the book They’re Mine and I’m Keeping Them, co-written with her husband, Alex Paul, and her physician, Peter Littrup, MD. Her artwork reflecting this journey is featured in Miracle Works. Both are available on Amazon, see below.
How I Kept Them: My Cryoablation Story
Artist Laura Ross-Paul sits down with Katana from SmartWomen TV for a candid and in-depth conversation about breast cancer, new cryoablation procedures to treat it, and her inspiring artworks she painted to illustrate her own breast cancer journey.
Early Freeze Protocol
First presented at the 2016 International Forum for Cancer and Cryoablation, hosted by Fuda Hospital in Guangzhou China, Laura Ross-Paul’s speech and video on the “Early Freeze Protocol” outlines her idea of a freezing procedure at a mammogram’s first discovery of trouble. There is currently, today in 2025, a trial of a similar approach being launched by Dr. Dennis Holmes in Los Angeles, California.
PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS
Minimally Invasive Breast Cancer Cryotherapy Largely Ignored in U.S., Says Advocate and 13-Year Survivor
Laura Ross-Paul of Portland, Oregon, calls herself a “patient pioneer,” as one of the first women in the world to receive cryoablation as the primary treatment for her multi-focused breast cancer 13 years ago. Cryotherapy, also called cryosurgery
“Miracle Works,” presents paintings that visually explore aspects of Artist/Author Laura Ross-Paul, who became a Patient Pioneer in 2003 by volunteering to be the first American woman to use Cryoablation (freezing) to treat breast cancer journey. This is a unique peek into the act of visual processing.
“They’re Mine and I’m Keeping them,” is the story of how “Patient #1,” Laura Ross-Paul, and her husband bucked the system, found Dr. Peter Littrup (a doctor with advanced skill in the field of tumor freezing) who performed cryoablation and ultimately saved her breast. The success of their collaboration makes breast conservation a realistic outcome of breast cancer treatment.
For more on Laura’s advocacy work go to KEEPINGTHEM.com.
For more medical information on Cyroablation go to
