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Implant Radiotherapy After Lumpectomy Safe, Well-Tolerated and Quick: Presented at SSO

By Michael Smith

ATLANTA, GA -- March 7, 2005 -- For administration of radiotherapy to women with breast cancer after a lumpectomy, a balloon catheter technique is safe, well-tolerated, and gives excellent cosmetic results, a U.S. surgeon reports.

Perhaps more important, the procedure is quicker and more convenient than the standard whole breast irradiation approach, said Dr. Elie Schochet, MD, surgical resident, Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Pennsylvania, speaking here on March 5^th at the Society of Surgical Oncology 58^th Annual Cancer Symposium.

"If you have a [small tumor], do you really want to irradiate the whole breast?" Dr. Schochet said.

Whole breast irradiation involves about 7 weeks of treatment, he said, while balloon catheter brachytherapy requires 5 days.

Dr. Schochet said that 70% of women who are candidates for breast-conserving surgery do not receive it, mainly because of the cost and time of the whole breast irradiation therapy that is usually part of the treatment.

In the procedure, the surgeon inserts the balloon catheter into the cavity left by the removed tumor and inflates the balloon. Then, a radioactive iridium isotope inserted into the balloon twice daily for 5 days. Finally, the catheter is removed.

The method brings the radioactive material close to the tissue that is likely to be the potential source of recurrence, he said: "Seventy percent of all recurrences are within 1 cm of the tumor."

The average time from lumpectomy to removal of the catheter is 40 days, Dr. Schochet said, depending on whether the catheter is placed at the time of the original surgery or later. Dr. Schochet said later implantation of the catheter allows some recovery from the surgery.

Dr. Schochet reported on a series of 80 women who used the technique at Lehigh Valley Hospital; 75 completed treatment. Most of the five women who did not get radiation did so because the balloon did not properly fill the cavity or because it was too close to the skin.

While it is too early to expect significant data on recurrence, Dr. Schochet said, there have been no recurrent tumors to date. The 2-year follow-up of the 75 women shows they are happy with the cosmetic outcome of their surgery and radiation therapy, he said.


[Presentation title: Two-year Follow-up of Early Stage Breast Cancer Patients after Balloon Catheter Brachytherapy. Abstract P53]

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