Multi-Site Study Presented at World Congress Supports 5-Day Breast Cancer Radiation Treatment

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. - Breast brachytherapy with a strut-based applicator is a well-tolerated and effective treatment for early-stage breast cancer, according to a multi-site study with a median follow-up of four years. The research was presented as a scientific poster at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) World Congress of Brachytherapy in Barcelona, May 10-12.

The data from UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center and two other institutions encompasses the longest-term study to date on breast brachytherapy with a strut-based applicator. The 5-day radiation therapy, a form of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI), follows lumpectomy surgery.
"This longer term follow-up gives more weight to the evidence that strut-based brachytherapy is a valid option for women with early-stage breast cancer," said Catheryn Yashar, lead author of the study and a radiation oncologist at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

"It's an approach women should consider," Dr. Yashar said. "Women lead busy lives and they want a radiation option that will control their cancer, spare their healthy tissue and fit into their schedule more easily than six weeks of whole-breast radiation therapy."

Other sites participating in the study were Arizona Beast Cancer Specialists (Phoenix, Az.) and 21st Century Oncology (Fort Myers, Fla.)

The research is based on 50 patients treated at those three different institutions with APBI using the Strut-Adjusted Volume Implant (SAVI). The poster reports successful completion of treatment in all 50 cases with favorably low recurrence rates and minimal acute and late toxicities.

"It is significant that these findings encompass patients over a median follow-up of four years since treatment - meaning we now have longer term data with outstanding results that show the efficacy of this therapy," said Constantine Mantz, M.D., a study co-author and a radiation oncologist and Chief Medical Officer of 21st Century Oncology, the largest radiation oncology provider in the U.S. "One likely reason for these favorable findings is that this technology spares healthy tissues and directs the radiation more precisely to the immediate area that needs to be treated."

There were no symptomatic cases of seroma, fat necrosis, or breast asymmetry from radiation treatment. Rates of other side effects including fibrosis, breast pain and hyperpigmentation were also reported to be acceptably low.

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