Significant Advance in Breast Cancer Therapy

Clinical effectiveness of single, targeted intraoperative radiotherapy (TARGIT) with INTRABEAM proven by study - clear benefits for patients

09-Jun-2010 - Germany

Reduction of the duration of radiotherapy to one day and gentler treatment overall have now been clinically proven as benefits for breast cancer patients of a single course of targeted intraoperative radiotherapy with INTRABEAM® from Carl Zeiss Meditec. The procedure therefore has the potential to become the new standard treatment for early breast cancer. This has now been confirmed by the long-term international TARGIT-A study.

During intraoperative radiotherapy with INTRABEAM®, the surrounding tissue is targeted and irradiated during the operation directly after removal of the tumour. Healthy tissue is preserved. The TARGIT-A study is examining whether a single course of targeted, intraoperative radiotherapy administered using INTRABEAM has the same effect as a conventional, six-week course of external radiotherapy in patients with early breast cancer. The trial is the longest multicenter breast cancer study ever carried out. It was launched in March 2000 and has involved leading physicians and scientists from all over the world. Until now, 2,232 patients have participated in the study.

"The single course of intraoperative radiotherapy preserves the surrounding tissue during the treatment and reduces the dose on the skin," explains Professor Dr. Wenz, Director of the Universitätsklinik für Strahlentherapie und Radioonkologie in Mannheim and pioneer of the INTRABEAM treatment method. "For women with early breast cancer, the current daily dose of radiotherapy administered over a period of six weeks could soon be replaced by a single INTRABEAM treatment during the surgical removal of the tumour."

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