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Patient Resources: Breast eBx
IORT | Intraoperative Radiation Therapy
Breast Cancer Treatment in as Little as 1 Day
In recent years, significant advancements have been made in the detection and treatment of breast cancer, offering patients less-invasive, breast-conserving options with valuable benefits.
Studies of early-stage breast cancer treatment have shown that performing a lumpectomy by removing the cancerous tissue and a small rim of tissue surrounding it, plus radiation therapy, provides women the same survival outcomes as a total breast removal or mastectomy.1,2 If you have been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, you may have the option of completing both surgery and radiation therapy at the same time with targeted, intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT).
What is breast-conserving therapy?
A mastectomy is surgery to remove the breast affected by cancer. In contrast, breast-conserving therapy, also known as a lumpectomy, involves surgery to remove a breast cancer tumor along with a small amount of surrounding tissue while preserving most of the breast. It is combined with axillary lymph node removal or sentinel node biopsy to determine if the lymph nodes located in the armpit may be affected by cancer. Breast-conserving therapy may be an option for patients with early stage breast cancer. In breast-conserving therapy, treatment includes the addition of radiation therapy to treat the remaining tissue surrounding the surgical cavity.
What is Breast IORT?
Breast IORT is an advanced, patient-friendly radiation treatment option. With IORT, a complete, concentrated dose of radiation is delivered in one treatment during surgery (lumpectomy). Traditional external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) involves daily radiation treatments for six to eight weeks, while IORT can be delivered in one day, eliminating weeks of travel, disruption to your daily life, and emotional stress.
How does IORT treat Breast Cancer?
IORT uses a miniaturized x-ray source to deliver a full course of targeted radiation directly within the tumor cavity where the cancer is most likely to recur, carefully destroying cancer cells and reducing the risk of damage to nearby healthy tissue including the heart, lungs, and ribs.3 This helps reduce potential side effects which are more common with whole breast irradiation.4
What is Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (APBI)?
APBI is used after breast conserving surgery and differs from external beam radiation therapy in two main ways. First, APBI is a type of brachytherapy which reduces the treatment area from the entire breast to the area of the breast where the tumor was removed. This is the part of the breast where most cancers are likely to recur. Second, it shortens the treatment time from seven weeks to five days. Since the duration of treatment is shorter, radiation is delivered in fewer sessions at larger doses.
Candidates for IORT
A discussion with your surgeon about breast IORT, as well as other treatment options, is necessary to determine if you are a candidate.
References
- Veronesi U, et al. Twenty-year follow-up of a randomized study comparing breast-conserving surgery with radical mastectomy for early breast cancer. NEJM. 2002;347:1227-1232.
- Fisher B, et al. Twenty-year follow-up of a randomized trial comparing total mastectomy, lumpectomy and lumpectomy plus irradiation for the treatment of invasive breast cancer. NEJM. 2002;347:1233-1241
- Dickler, et al. “A Dosimetric comparison of MammoSite high dose rate brachytherapy and Xoft Axxent electronic brachytherapy,” Brachytherapy (6) 2007, 164–168.
- Epstein M, et al. Acute and Chronic Complications in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Intraoperative Radiation Therapy. Ann Surg Oncol. 2016 Oct;23(10):3304-9.
"The fact that my treatment was done before I even woke up is beyond words. I came in with cancer, went to sleep and when I woke up, I was completely done with my breast cancer treatment."
Sandra, Patient
Elekta Xoft
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