Dr Jayant Vaidya speaks to ecancer about new clinical and biological insights from the international TARGIT-A randomised trial of targeted intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) during lumpectomy for breast cancer.

He explains the trial compared risk adapted single dose IORT given during lumpectomy for breast cancer versus standard post-operative breast radiotherapy given over the course of roughly 3-6 weeks.

The primary outcome was non-inferiority in local recurrence at five years which was proven. For overall survival there was no difference between the two treatment arms. However, in the IORT arm, death from other causes were significantly reduced. In further analysis, this translated to an overall survival benefit and an improvement in quality of life for patients.

Dr Vaidya concludes by highlighting the potential impact of these results in the future treatment of breast cancer.

Read the study here. 

Visit the TARGIT website here.