11 May Intra-operative Radiation For Breast Cancer Better For Patients and Environment

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jayant S Vaidya MBBS MS DNB FRCS PhD 
Professor of Surgery and Oncology,
Scientific Director, Clinical Trials Group,
Division of Surgery and Interventional Science,
University College London
Whittington Health – Clinical Lead for Breast Cancer
Royal Free Hospital
University College London Hospital

 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Prof. Vaidya: TARGIT-A randomised clinical trial (ISRCTN34086741) compared giving TARGIT IORT during lumpectomy vs. traditional EBRT given over several weeks after lumpectomy for breast cancer; local-recurrence-free-survival was similar in the two arms of the trial, particularly when TARGIT was given simultaneously with lumpectomy. Also, there were significantly fewer deaths from other causes with TARGIT IORT.

This study calculated journeys made by patients with breast cancer to receive their radiotherapy, using the geographic and treatment data from a large randomised trial.

The study then assessed the same outcomes (travel distances, travel time and CO2emissions) in two semi-rural breast cancers—the results of this assessment confirm and reinforce the original results: the benefit of the use of TARGIT for patients from two semi=rural breast centres was even larger (753 miles (1212 km), 30 h, 215 kg CO2 per patient).

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Prof. Vaidya: As clinicians, we need to remember the impact of our prescribed therapies on patients and their relatives and the concept of ‘therapy-miles’ ought to be considered when planning and prescribing patient treatment. We concluded that introducing TARGIT as an option for suitable patients in the UK will contribute significantly to saving patients time, cost, fuel and CO₂ emissions.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Prof. Vaidya: Similar studies for other cancers and all new treatments should be undertaken to quantify the environmental and social impact of treatments.

MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Prof. Vaidya:  The full paper is available at http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/5/e010703.full

The video abstract can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJr4YzZA21k or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvDoKZe1WTU

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation:

Environmental and social benefits of the targeted intraoperative radiotherapy for breast cancer: data from UK TARGIT-A trial centres and two UK NHS hospitals offering TARGIT IORT

Nathan J Coombs, Joel M Coombs, Uma J Vaidya,Julian Singer, Max Bulsara,Jeffrey S Tobias, Frederik Wenz, David J Joseph, Douglas A Brown, Richard Rainsbury,Tim Davidson, Douglas J A Adamson, Samuele Massarut, David Morgan, Ingrid Potyka,Tammy Corica, Mary Falzon, Norman Williams, Michael Baum, Jayant S Vaidya

BMJ Open 2016;6:5 e010703 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010703

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Last Updated on May 11, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD