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U.S. Hospital Report
Intraoperative radiation therapy
With intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT)
for partial breast irradiation, a single dose of
radiation is delivered directly to affected breast
tissue at the time of breast cancer surgery.
As a result, "the use of intraoperative partial
breast radiation allows patients with early stage
breast cancer to decrease radiation exposure and
the duration of treatment from weeks or months
to one day or week," says Dr. Pearson.
In addition to accelerating treatment,
IORT may cut down on radiation side effects,
particularly those involving the heart and lungs.
It takes a multidisciplinary team to deliver the personalized
medicine that's a hallmark of modern breast cancer care.
These physicians form the core breast cancer care team,
working closely with oncology nurses, oncology social
workers, genetic cancer specialists, nutritionists and other
medical care providers:
A team approach
Targeted medical therapy
Targeted therapies for breast cancer interfere
with specific proteins on the surfaces of
cancer cells to block the cells' growth and
spread. These therapies may
work when chemotherapy
doesn't and may increase
the effectiveness of other
treatments. In addition, side
effects are often less severe
than with chemotherapy.
Although they aren't available for all types
of breast cancers—scientists have yet to
discover targets for triple negative breast
cancer, for example—existing therapies have
significantly lengthened survival rates.
In women with HER2 (human epidermal
growth factor receptor 2) positive breast
cancer, for example, "using therapies like
Herceptin [trastuzumab] gives up to 60
percent of women a complete response,
meaning no detectable residual tumor after
treatment is done," says Dr. Lesnikoski.
Medical oncologists
manage and coordinate the
team, handling diagnosis,
decisions about genetic
testing and treatment with
chemotherapy, targeted
therapies and other drugs.
Breast surgeons,
also called surgical
oncologists, remove
tumors during surgery.
Radiation oncologists
prescribe and deliver
radiation to shrink or
destroy tumors.