Thursday, October 13, 2016
Health system first in Michigan offering Intrabeam intraoperative radiotherapy
Women with early-stage breast cancer now have a new treatment option available at Beaumont Health. On Friday, Sept. 30, breast specialists and radiation oncologists at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, were the first in the state to treat patients with the Intrabeam intraoperative radiotherapy system.
Radiation or radiotherapy treatments have proven to be effective in reducing the recurrence of breast cancer after a surgical procedure.
How does the new radiotherapy system work? After breast-conserving surgery, while the patient is under anesthesia, a single-dose of radiation therapy is delivered. The treatment usually takes 20-30 minutes. Compared to traditional external beam therapy, the one-time dose of radiotherapy reduces radiation exposure and offers the patient the convenience of a focused beam of radiation treatment during the breast operation. This form of focal radiation specifically targets the area of the breast that is most likely to have a recurrence and minimizes the radiation dose to the rest of the breast.
This may be an excellent therapy option for suitable women having a lumpectomy. More traditional forms of radiation therapy can require three to six weeks of treatment, depending on the type and extent of the patient’s cancer, according to Nayana Dekhne, M.D., breast surgeon and corporate director, Breast Care Program, Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.
“With this new less invasive treatment, the spherical tip of a small radiation device is inserted into the lumpectomy incision,” said Peter Y. Chen, M.D., a Beaumont radiation oncologist. “The targeted intraoperative therapy, or TARGIT, is delivered while the patient is still asleep. No additional surgery is needed, and both the treatment time and radiation exposure are reduced. Given the focused radiation dose to the lumpectomy site, patients benefit from less radiation delivered to surrounding normal tissues such as the lungs and heart, and fewer cosmetic problems with the breasts. This can contribute to helping patients get back to their everyday lives more quickly.”
Beaumont, Royal Oak is participating in a multisite research trial called TARGIT-B. Dr. Chen, site investigator explained, “The study is for women whose doctors think they have a higher than average risk of the cancer coming back after treatment. The aim of the study is to see if having radiotherapy intraoperatively, in the form of boost irradiation, during surgery, lowers the chance of cancer coming back in the breast and if it reduces the risk of long-term changes to the breast. After this initial boost dose of radiation, participants in the TARGIT-B study will undergo a conventional course of external beam whole breast irradiation as an outpatient, after full recovery from their lumpectomy surgery.”
When combined with external beam radiation, TARGIT intraoperative radiation reduces the number of treatments that a patient needs. Additionally, an ongoing area of research is to define the type of patient for whom intraoperative treatment may serve as the only form of radiation therapy.
Jayant Vaidya, professor of surgery and oncology, University College, London, who pioneered the Intrabeam system, was present at Beaumont to observe the first two procedures. “It’s fantastic Beaumont has this leading edge technology. Beaumont has always been progressive in radiation oncology,” he said.
It's fantastic Beaumont has this leading edge technology. Beaumont has always been progressive in radiation oncology.
Vaidya
Beaumont has been one of the pioneers in accelerated partial-breast irradiation using brachytherapy for more than 20 years. Today, Intrabeam intraoperative radiotherapy system is another partial radiation option.
Women who have been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer should talk with their physician about whether this treatment is right for them, suggests Dr. Dekhne.
“Our patients who are eligible for intraoperative radiotherapy like that this new treatment option is easy to understand,” said Dr. Dekhne. ‘By getting their radiation treatment in one-dose immediately after their lumpectomy, they have the comfort of knowing two procedures have been accomplished under one anesthesia.”
Those interested in learning more about this new radiation option can call Beaumont’s Comprehensive Breast Care Centers at 888-924-9460 or go to www.beaumont.edu/cancer/centers-clinics/comprehensive-breast-care-centers/.