Inspira Health Network, Inc.

FALL 2017

Spirit of Women magazine is a national publication presented to women by hospitals and their physicians. The magazine provides up-to-date, evidence-based healthcare information and promotes our hospitals as leaders in women's health excellence.

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14 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.

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