New Breast Cancer Therapy Trial: TARGIT
NBC5 (Dallas) has an article about a new breast cancer therapy trial at USC:
Radiation treatment for breast cancer patients often drags on for weeks and comes with unpleasant side effects, but a new treatment in clinical trials aims to eliminate those problems.
The Targeted Intraoperative Radiotherapy Trial, or TARGIT, at the University of Southern California is testing intraoperative radiotherapy — a one-time, half-hour procedure that takes place in the operating room while doctors are removing the breast tumor.
There, radiation is delivered directly to breast tissue in a single dose.
“We know that breast cancer most commonly occurs where the original tumor was found, so the advantage of this treatment is that we can target the treatment to the part of the breast that needs the radiation the most,” breast surgeon Dr. Dennis Holmes.
“There’s no nausea, no long term changes. The skin looks almost as though it’s not radiated. So, the side effects are very minimal by comparison,” surgeon Dr. Melvin Silverstein said.
“I just went to sleep and woke up, and it was done,” patient Nancy Bushnell said. “And I was home, cooking dinner that night.”
If approved, this therapy could dramatically change post-surgery breast cancer treatment, eliminating weeks of discomfort.