Single radiotherapy shot proves effective in breast cancer

A breast cancer therapy developed by UCL clinicians which requires just one shot of radiotherapy compared to the weeks-long treatment of current therapies been shown to be effective for most women.

TARGIT-IORT is delivered immediately after tumour removal via a small ball-shaped device that is placed inside the breast where the cancer had been.

The single-dose treatment lasts for around 20 to 30 minutes and negates the need for extra hospital visits, researchers said. For conventional external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), which is delivered from outside the body via a radiotherapy machine, the treatment period lasts between three to six weeks, requiring 15 to 30 hospital visits.

To establish TARGIT-IORT’s long-term effectiveness, 2,298 women aged 45 or over with invasive ductal carcinoma (breast cancer) and a tumour of up to 3.5cm in size were randomly assigned to receive either the therapy or the traditional EBRT.

The trial, designed and run from UCL, involved 32 hospitals and medical centres in ten countries: the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, United States, Canada and Australia, and began in March 2000.

According to the findings, which were published in the British Medical Journal, eight out of every ten patients taking TARGIT-IORT had no need for any further post-operative radiotherapy treatments.

There was also no negative impact on survival nor an increase in the likelihood of the cancer returning, while significantly fewer women died from causes other than breast cancer, the researchers noted.

“With TARGIT-IORT, women can have their surgery and radiation treatment for breast cancer all at the same time. This reduces the amount of time spent in hospital and enables women to recover more quickly, meaning they can get back to their lives more quickly,” said lead author Professor Jayant Vaidya, Professor of Surgery and Oncology, UCL Surgery & Interventional Science.

“With publication of these very positive long-term results, it is now clear that this treatment should be made much more freely available. It should be accessible to healthcare providers and discussed with patients when surgery for breast cancer is being planned.”