The single-dose radiotherapy delivered with Covid-19 safety protocols in place. The procedure avoids the need for repeat hospital visits, greatly reducing patients’ potential exposure to the virus. (Image: UCL)
The single-dose radiotherapy delivered with Covid-19 safety protocols in place. The procedure avoids the need for repeat hospital visits, greatly reducing patients' potential exposure to the virus. (Image: UCL) - A breast cancer therapy that requires just one shot of radiotherapy is as effective as traditional radiotherapy, and avoids potential damage to nearby organs, according to a paper by UCL experts. The results, published in the British Journal of Cancer, mean that eight out of ten patients who receive the treatment, TARGIT-IORT, will not need a long course of post-operative external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). These results strengthen and expand previously published outcomes. Patients who received the treatment are less likely to go on to experience fatal cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks, lung problems or other cancers. As well as avoiding scattered radiation from EBRT that can damage nearby vital organs, delivering TARGIT-IORT during the lumpectomy procedure seems to lower the likelihood of death if patients do go on to develop cardiovascular disease, protecting in a drug-like manner.
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