Intraoperative Radiation Therapy For Breast Cancer Specialist

What is intraoperative radiation therapy?

Intraoperative radiation therapy for breast cancer is a form of breast radiation therapy that is administered as a single treatment during surgery immediately the following lumpectomy. Intraoperative radiation therapy is a personalized approach to cancer care. The concept is to restrict the radiation dose to the tumor bed.

Lumpectomy refers to a procedure that removes the tumor from the breast with a rim of normal tissue breast around it.  In most patients diagnosed with breast cancer, it’s possible to perform the lumpectomy. In a lumpectomy, the tumor is removed from the breast with a rim of normal tissue around the tumor, with the goal to achieve what is called “clear margins.”

Intraoperative radiation therapy is considered an alternative for women with early-stage breast cancers to standard breast radiation therapy, which is commonly given after lumpectomy on a daily basis for three to six weeks.

The INTRABEAM applicator is used to radiate the tumor bed in breast conserving treatment. The spherical applicators enable exact adaptation to the size of the tumor bed after the lumpectomy is completed. The size of the applicator varies from 1.5-5cm.

What are the advantages of intraoperative radiation therapy?

The principal advantage of intraoperative radiation therapy is the ability to administer the entire therapeutic dose of breast radiotherapy at the time of lumpectomy while the patient is still under anesthesia and target the tumor bed only, thus sparing radiation to the rest of the normal breast tissue, as well as heart and lung.

Am I a good candidate for intraoperative radiation therapy?

Dr. Sanghavi evaluates your case to determine whether you're a good candidate for this type of radiation. In general, you must be in the early stages of breast cancer to be a good candidate.

Find out if you can benefit from intraoperative radiation therapy as a treatment for breast cancer instead of standard radiation therapy. To talk to a skilled provider experienced in intraoperative radiation therapy, call Premal Sanghavi MD, Inc. in Los Angeles or Glendale, California, or schedule an appointment using the online booking feature today.