By Mary O’KEEFE

According to the American Cancer Society, most women with breast cancer have some type of surgery. Lumpectomy, quadrantectomy, partial mastectomy and segmental mastectomy are surgeries that remove the part of the breast containing cancer. A mastectomy is a surgery in which the entire breast is removed.

Radiation therapy is one of the most common treatments for early stage cancer. It may be used alone or combined with other treatments.

“For patients who are diagnosed with [breast] cancer, if they go into surgery with a lumpectomy … to have to go to a facility for [radiation] treatment is a high risk,” said Dr. Dennis Holmes, medical director of the Adventist Health Glendale Breast Surgery Program. “Every visit is a risk.” 

Dr. Holmes is an investigator in the original trial in 2000 of TARGIT-IORT (targeted intraoperative radiotherapy), a single dose of targeted radiation that is delivered inside the breast during surgery immediately following the removal of the tumor while the patient is still asleep. This would be the only radiation treatment required for most patients, thus eliminating future treatments and reducing risks.

“When [patients] are getting [radiation] therapy we are treating the ‘whole breast’ [instead of just] the tumor site,” Holmes said.

He added that when the “whole breast” is treated rather than only the tumor site the surrounding area of the body is also affected.

The targeted therapy is doing exactly what its title states – it targets the tumor area only.

After Holmes removes the tumor and positions the TARGIT-IORT device it takes about 18 to 30 minutes for treatment.

“Then the device is removed and the wound is closed,” he said.

Adventist Health Glendale is one of the “select few” hospitals in the state to offer TARGIT-IORT, according to the hospital’s spokeswoman.

“I am proud to have been a pioneer of breast cancer intraoperative radiotherapy, and to serve as a lead researcher in the clinical trials that proved the effectiveness of IORT,” Holmes said.

Targeted radiation has been used in other cancer surgeries, such as in the brain, but has just begun being used to treat breast cancer.

Targeted therapy lessens radiation exposure to the “entire” breast and by having only one treatment it eliminates the need for most patients to go to multiple radiation therapy sessions thereby reducing health risks.

“For women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer during the pandemic, IORT has been a godsend for reducing the number of required hospital visits,” said Dr. Holmes. “Instead of 16 to 30 daily hospital visits after surgery for regular radiation treatments, IORT can safely administer the complete radiation treatment at the time of lumpectomy in a single visit to the hospital. Not only does this reduce the immediate burden of breast cancer treatment, it also greatly reduces the risk of COVID transmission in the hospital.”