Six weeks of radiotherapy to be consolidated into 30 minutes for breast cancer patients

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMar 29 2010

Nearly 45 thousand women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Two third of these women need a combination of surgery and radiotherapy. Radiotherapy can kill cancer cells that may have been missed during operation. These remnant cells are responsible for 90% relapses.

A new technique which involves delivering radiotherapy during the operation of breast cancer removal is making waves as it is purported to save the NHS around £15 million a year according to the estimates of the University College London researchers. This method will also reduce waiting lines for such women. Tedious six week long sessions will be cut short to a single half an hour procedure right after the operation with this new technique called the intra-operative radiation therapy (IORT)

While final verdict on clinical efficacy of this procedure is still awaiting the current results are encouraging. Of the 77 women who have undergone this therapy and followed up for an average of 37 months, only 2 have relapsed say findings presented at the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference in Barcelona. Results from the ten-year targeted intra-operative therapy trial are expected to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference, the largest annual meeting of oncologists, in Chicago in June. The trial aims to show that IORT is as safe and effective as a conventional course of radiotherapy.

Prof Michael Baum, professor emeritus of surgery at UCL, said: “We don't know the results yet, they won't be available until later this year. But if it works out, many women will be spared six weeks of treatment going back and forth to the radiotherapy centre.” He added: “In countries like ours the waiting list for post-operative radiotherapy would vanish at a stroke and we estimate the NHS would be saved £15 million a year. Women would vote with their feet for this treatment. Furthermore tens of thousands of women in the developing world who live hundreds of miles from a radiotherapy unit, or in countries which cannot afford the multi-million pound investment, will be able to enjoy the advantages of breast conservation, by bringing the radiotherapy unit to the patient.”

Patients are being treated using the Intrabeam, a portable X-ray machine manufactured by the Carl Zeiss Corporation in Germany. This machine gives out X rays of a different quality to the conventional treatment, but which have “the equivalent effect,” said Prof Baum.

However, around one in four patients, classed as high risk of their cancer returning, would still have the more conventional from of treatment, Prof Baum added.