Breast cancer patients may need only one dose of radiation
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An ongoing international cancer trial suggests a targeted radiation therapy may be as effective as the current standard radiation therapy indicated to treat breast cancer.
The new targeted intraoperative radiotherapy was applied right after a breast cancer was removed surgically. It took only 30 minutes to deliver only one dose of radiation to only part of the breast where the tumor was removed.
In comparison, it would take 4 to 6 weeks, 5 days a week to finish the standard radiation therapy after surgery to remove the tumor. The current therapy using more radiation affects the whole diseased breast.
The new therapy can not only save time and offer breast cancer patients some convenience, but media reports say it also reduces the exposure of the lungs, heart and esophagus to the radiation, which can not only cause cancer, but also damage organ tissues.
The TARGIT-A trial of 2000 patients with invasive ductal breast carcinoma aged 45 or older was conducted by researchers at 28 medical centers in nine countries in Europe, North America and Asia.
The researchers including Dr. Dennis Holmes, at the University of Southern California's Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center found breast cancer returned during a 4-year follow-up in six of those receiving the targeted therapy and five of those receiving the conventional radiation treatment. The difference was not statistically significant.
The side effects were similar in both groups.
The trial results were released Saturday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago and also published in the medical journal Lancet.
One disadvantage for the new targeted radiation therapy is that when the treatment was given, the pathological work had not been finished. Because of this, about 14 or 15 percent of the breast cancer patients ended up needing more treatment later.
Additionally, the trial lasted only 4 years. The rate of recurrence may change after this period. The researchers suggested that breast cancer patients receiving the new radiation therapy may need to be followed up for about 8 years.
JD
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