Breast Cancer Expert, Mr Jay Vaidya, explains that although radiotherapy has been used for several decades it has its drawbacks. Giving a large dose of radiation in one go can be toxic and so it is normally given in several sittings, usually about 30, over four to six weeks. However with the special and newly developed TARGIT technique the radiotherapy is focused directly to the most important tissues. As it is so well-targeted and the dose is restricted to only the necessary area, it can be all given as a single dose and it can be given immediately after surgical removal of the tumour.
Mr Vaidya states that “While we await longer term results of the trial, many specialists around the world are convinced about the TARGIT approach and are therefore cautiously introducing this as a standard treatment”. His article describes that this form of treatment is ideally for selected patients who are older, post-menopausal, with a small ductal cancer with certain features, (e.g. grades 1 and 2, ER positive, etc.). However, other patients may be offered TARGIT either as a standard treatment or as part of a clinical trial depending on their circumstances.
He says that although this is not necessarily the ‘new cure for breast cancer’, it is a modification of radiation treatment (radiotherapy) to make it less toxic, more convenient and possibly more effective.
