ecancermedicalscience

Special Issue

Update on intraoperative radiotherapy: new challenges and issues

10 Jan 2018
Emanuela Esposito, Michael Douek

Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) for breast cancer has challenged the standard external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and has been shown to be non-inferior for treating early breast cancer in the past decade. Several technologies have been tested for IORT and various randomised controlled trials are still ongoing. Different methods of application of IORT have also been evaluated, from early breast cancer to tumour bed boost radiotherapy amongst high risk women. TARGIT-A and ELIOT trials have reported a low incidence of local recurrence and good survival in both arms. Moreover, mortality has been found to be lower amongst women who underwent partial breast radiotherapy compared to those treated with EBRT in a recent meta-analysis. Despite this, IORT has not been introduced in the current clinical practice as yet, and many clinicians do not mention this treatment option to patients awaiting breast cancer surgery. The scientific community does not unanimously support the effectiveness of IORT and still raises concerns about introducing IORT as a standard treatment option for breast cancer. Current evidence demonstrates that IORT is ready for roll-out; it is time to let well-selected and informed patients be offered this treatment option in the current clinical practice.

Related Articles

Julia Palma, Sofía Aljaro, Daniela Arce, Milena Villarroel, Federico Antillón, Luiz Lopes, Nataly Mercado, Adriana Morais, Andrés Portilla, Leonardo Arana, Guillermo Chantada, Mónica Cypriano, Soad Fuentes, Augusto Pereira, Lourdes Vega, Nubia Zuñiga, Liliana Vásquez, Andrea Capellano, Paola Friedrich
Carolina Muñoz Olivar, Sylvia Ramis, Francisco Acevedo, Benjamin Walbaum, Karol Ramirez, Gina Merino, Barbara Samith, Isabel Saffie, Carolina Zarate, Lidia Medina, Constanza Figueroa, Francisco Dominguez, Mauricio Camus, Catalina Vargas, Maria Elena Navarro, Dravna Razmilic, Marisel Navarro, Constanza Pinto, Catalina Muñoz, Raul Martinez, Manuel Manzor, Cesar Sanchez
Ariel Cherro, Laura Aresca, María Susana Ciruzzi, Alejo Agranatti, María Fernanda Montaña, Cynthia Frahne, Jaqueline Cimerman
Meghal Prajapati, Anil Kumar Goel, Yamini Patel, Divyeshkumar Rana, S Lokesh, Pooja Panchal, Dhruv Rathod, Chandramouli Ramalingam, Kondeti Ajay Kumar