Mayo Clinic Reduces Breast Cancer Treatment Time

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Mayo Clinic physicians are striving to improve radiation therapy for breast cancer patients using an alternative treatment during surgery, Intra-operative Electron Radiation Therapy (IOERT). In half the treatment time of standard radiation therapy, IOERT maximizes the dose of radiation given to the tumor while minimizing the amount of damage to surrounding tissue.

The IOERT research study for breast cancer at Mayo Clinic evaluates a patient's tolerance for receiving IOERT during surgery followed by a course of external radiation. The standard of care following breast cancer surgery is typically six weeks of external radiation. In an earlier IOERT study at Mayo, treatment was shortened to four weeks plus four days. In this second study, the external course of radiation is decreased even further, to three weeks plus one day.

"The use of IOERT as a boost in the trial would reduce the overall treatment time from six weeks to just over three weeks, which is more convenient for patients and would decrease the overall cost of treatment," says William W. Wong, M.D., radiation oncologist at Mayo Clinic who is leading the study.

The first IOERT study used 24 treatments of external beam irradiation to the breast plus IOERT as a boost to the lumpectomy bed. This replaces the traditional radiation "boost," a high dose of radiation given to the tumor site at the end of the radiation therapy. Instead, patients in the IOERT study are receiving radiation intra-operatively during the initial surgery. In this second study, the IOERT surgery will be followed by a shortened schedule of whole breast radiation therapy of three weeks and one day. Physicians want to see if this approach to radiation therapy is as effective and produces the same cosmetic results, while decreasing the need for the longer course of radiation.

Mayo Clinic has one of only 12 FDA-approved mobile IOERT machines (called the Mobetron) in the world, and is the only medical center in the Southwest with this treatment option. The Mobetron can be brought directly to the patient's operating room at the time of surgery. Patients treated with this device receive a powerful, concentrated beam of electron radiation delivered directly to cancerous tumors during surgery. In the case of breast cancer, this adds only about 20 minutes to the time of the surgery.

Patients undergoing surgery for early-stage breast cancers at Mayo Clinic have been receiving one of the world's most advanced, effective and rare forms of cancer-fighting radiation therapy, and now the treatment time can be decreased by one week. For information about participating in the IOERT breast cancer research study, call the Mayo Clinic Breast Clinic at (480) 301-6999.

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is one of only 38 U.S. medical centers that have been named as a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center. To receive this designation, an institution must meet rigorous standards demonstrating clinical excellence in treating cancer patients and scientific excellence in its research programs. Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is ranked by the NCI as one of the top 10 cancer centers in the nation, and is the only national, multi-site center with the NCI's Comprehensive Cancer Center designation. In Arizona, Mayo's clinical and research experts work together to address the complex needs of cancer patients, with a dedication to understanding the biology of cancer; discovering new ways to predict, prevent, diagnose and treat cancer; and transforming the quality of life for cancer patients today and in the future.

###

To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com is available as a resource for your health stories.