Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) breast cancer specialists have formulated a novel method to treat breast cancer patients. It involves delivering a one-time dose of radiation during surgery. The process, known as intraoperative radiation therapy, requires less than an hour and obliterates the need for further radiation treatments.
On May 17, the PMH team engaged the expertise of surgeons, radiation medicine specialists (radiation oncologists, physicists and therapists) and nurses to carry out its first procedure. The PMH team has since treated two more patients.
During surgery a single, concentrated dose is introduced directly into the affected area inside the breast by using a probe attached to the portable intrabeam radiotherapy machine. Dr. McCready tells that the one-time dose is biologically equivalent to conventional radiation treatments for breast cancer that generally require a minimum of 16 treatments over three weeks on average.
Says Dr. Anthony Fyles, the radiation oncologist who leads the Breast Radiation Oncology Program and treated the first patient:
This procedure is helping us understand more about the biology of how breast tissue responds to treatment. That knowledge, in turn, will help us further customize and select the best treatment options for individuals with early breast cancer.
Dr. McCready and Dr. Fyles will now join a randomized clinical trial to further peruse the results of using this procedure. The study participants from PMH will generally be older patients with small, early-stage tumours (less than 2 cm). This radical breakthrough was initiated four years ago in Britain. More than 800 women are part of an international trial of this technique now.
The new treatment may play a significant role in obviating breast cancer but the fact that only a particular section of women’s population will find it useful may prove to be a spoiler for some.