INTRABEAM Radiotherapy for the Physician
Despite the demonstrated efficacy of radiation therapy following BCS, a large number of women do not receive radiotherapy following their surgery.
A recent study concluded that at least 26% of Medicare BCS patients did not receive radiotherapy. While there are a number of contributing factors, it has been shown that time and travel distance will negatively impact women in receiving radiotherapy.
INTRABEAM Intraoperative Radiotherapy provides a treatment option that allows physicians to deliver an immediate single dose of radiation directly to the tumor bed, at the time of breast conserving surgery.
INTRABEAM radiotherapy delivered as a single definitive treatment was introduced through an internationally randomized controlled clinical trial called TARGiT, which compares a single dose of radiation given intra-operatively to conventional external beam radiotherapy in women with early breast cancer1. This method is not used as a replacement for WBRT, but as a viable treatment alternative for patients meeting specific treatment conditions.
1. Vaidya JS, Baum M, Tobias JS, et al. The novel technique of delivering targeted intraoperative radiotherapy (TARGiT) for early breast cancer. Eur J Surg Oncol 2002;28:447 -54.