Faster treatment looms for breast cancer
New treatment for breast cancer developed partly in Perth could reduce a six-week course of tumour destroying radiation to a single half-hour session.
The aim of the intra-operative radiation therapy is to make treatment convenient and comfortable for women while retaining as much of the breast as possible. The therapy could be performed at any hospital or treatment centre which potentially reduces cost through the fewer visits required.
The director of the cancer division at Perth’s Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, David Joseph, said that “the results are very encouraging. We’re getting better results and less toxicity for patients with this treatment”.
A total 2,232 women aged 45 and over with early stage breast cancer took part in the trial and were treated at 28 centres in nine countries across Australia, the United States, and Europe.
Michael Baum of University College, London, a co-leader in the research, said “these study results have the potential of changing the way we think about the primary management of early breast cancer”.
