The first breast cancer patient to be treated with intraoperative radiotherapy treatment (IORT) will be treated at the London Breast Institute today, 2nd March 2012. The patient will be treated by totalhealth consultants, Professor Kefah Mokbel and Mr Jayant Vaidya who have been pioneers in the development of cutting-edge breast cancer treatments.
The London Breast Institute of the Princess Grace Hospital is the first hospital in the UK to install the intra-beam TARGIT machine for targeted intraoperative radiotherapy. The new Intrabeam® device was devised by Mr Vaidya and colleagues at the end of the last millennium and trials since then on over 3000 women have been successful. Further to the success of the trials, the treatment will now become a viable option for women aged over fifty with grade 1 breast cancer seeking treatment at the London Breast Institute.
This new form of radiotherapy allows a single dose radiation to be administered directly to the tumour bed whilst the patient is in the operating theatre following a lumpectomy. This avoids the need for the traditional 3–6 week course of radiation therapy in over 80% of patients. Professor Kefah Mokbel, who will be performing the surgery today has said:
“We are delighted to offer this new treatment modality to a selected group of our patients in order to improve their quality of life during the breast cancer treatment journey. All patients will be thoroughly discussed in our multi-disciplinary meeting in order to confirm their suitability for intra-operative radiotherapy.”
For further information about the TARGIT technique for treating breast cancer please click here, or to book an appointment to receive this cutting-edge treatment at the Princess Grace Hospital please click here.
