Juat diagnosed advised to do IORT

Civillov3

Hi, my mum, aged 65 had just been diagnosed with breast cancer stage one, so fat lump is about 0.7x0.5 on size. We visited a surgeon in UM and was advised to perform lumpectomy with SLNB + IORT (interoperative radiation therapy), according to the doctor IORT is a new technology in malaysia and only UM has it as the machine is costly. Is like injecting a dose of radiation during the surgery so patient needs not visit the hospital for another 25 times of rafiayion therapy.

According to the doctor, this technology has already been introduced in many other countries as well as Singapore and UM has just imported the technology last year and my mum will be the first one using it. Well I guess everyone will be worried when they were informed they r the first one using such new technology. However the surgeon has advised us that everything is on track n in control where many specialists will be at presence to monitor.

Am wondering if wr shall proceed to take this option? Ur valuable advise are greatly appreciated.

dtad

Hi there. Im being treated at Columbia University Medical Center in NYC and they use IOR. I think its a great option for appropriate candidates!

Sunnyone22

I had IOERT (Intraoperative Electron Beam Radiation Therapy) in San Diego three weeks ago. My insurance still considers it experimental so I had to pay out of pocket. My breast surgeon pioneered this procedure in the private medical system I use and recommended it for me. Because all the data isn't in on it yet, my surgeon and rad. oncologist still want me to do 5 weeks of whole breast radiation as well. So the dose I got was a 'boost' to the full treatment schedule - not a bigger dose to replace weeks of rads.

Until there is long-term confirmation (10 years?) that IORT has the same effectiveness as weeks of whole breast rads, some docs don't want to start using it to replace whole breast rads. But there are other places in the world (Europe in particular) where this has been done for years. I had absolutely no side effects and my lumpectomy healed without any issues.

Just FYI. Good luck to your Mom and thank you for looking after her.

3timesthbattle

I had it done in 2001. The doctor I was with was one of the first places in the world to have this machine. It cut my radiation by a week. It was applied during the surgery.

3timesthbattle

I had it done in 2001. The doctor I was with was one of the first places in the world to have this machine. It cut my radiation by a week. It was applied during the surgery.

Oct2018

I had IORT during BC surgery in November 2018. As soon as the stitches dissolved, my incision opened up. My surgeon said that was due to the radiation. I asked her if it was due to my engaging in work/workouts too soon. She said no, it was the radiation. It is now 2 1/2 months later and my incision is almost closed, but there remains a very large dimple, which wasn't there originally.

Mine was a Stage I cancer and negative lymph nodes. Had I known this at the time, I may have opted to not get the IORT. Of course, you do not know these things until after the surgery. And hindsight is 20-20.

Moderators

Dear Oct2018,

Welcome to the BCO community. We are sorry about your diagnosis and treatment but grateful that you reached out to our members to share your story. We are glad that you are on the mend. This particular thread has not seen activity since 2016. You may want to check out more active topics where you might more readily connect with other members. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help you better navigate your way around.

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Salamandra

I kind of wish IORT had been an option for me, but it seems never to have been on the table at all for my cancer team, even though I think MSK does have the facilities.

I do feel some peace of mind from having the regular 16+4 treatment. But I also don't really know anything about studies or outcomes in Europe.

My completely lay person feeling on this is that if you have any doubt at all about your mom's ability, whether logistically, emotionally, financially, or physically, to be compliant for the entire program of radiation, then absolutely the IORT is a great idea.

JoniB

I had IORT in NYC in March 2016. I had no problems and so far my scans have been clean. My insurance did not pay, saying it was experimental, but the hospital said the most they would charge me was $350.

UpstateNYer

I am 63 and meeting with a RO tomorrow to discuss IORT. My hospital has had IORT since Dec. 2018. My surgeon is suggesting I do it and I am leaning toward doing it. There have been many studies dating back from the late 1990s in Europe. I think it to have a very good success rate according to my surgeon. I know that you can do additional rads later on if pathology results indicate more rads are indicated after surgery. Good luck with your Mum.

voraciousreader

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5804714/

Update on intraoperative radiotherapy: new challenges and issues

Emanuela Esposito and Michael Douek

December 2018

voraciousreader

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2018.00207/full

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Front. Oncol., 05 June 2018

Comparison of Local Recurrence Among Early Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Electron Intraoperative Radiotherapy vs Hypofractionated Photon Radiotherapy an Observational Study

Stellawt57

Hi ladies, I'm 5 1/2 month post ,sugery, IOeRT, and reconstruction. When I met with my BS and RO they said this would be a good option as my tumor was <1cm stage 1A, grade 2 after the biopsy. They reassured me that my prognosis is as good as a BC patient who had a mastectomy with full breast radiation. The center that I go to is conducting a study of 100 women who are 60+ yrs and early stage cancer. I was diagnosed 8/14/18 with surgery on 8/3/18after the cancer was removed with a clear tumor

Stellawt57

Hello Ladies, I was excited to find this forum as there are few women who have had this procedure. I'm five months post BC surgery, IOeRT, and reconstruction (breast conservation). I was diagnosed 8/14/18 with a lumpectomy on 10/3/18. My surgery was a total of 5 hours then an hour in recovery and 2hrs. post recovery room then home for supper. During the radiation piece of surgery a copper plate was placed under the breast tissue to help protect the lung and heart so they weren't affected from the radiation. I was diagnosed with a tumor <1cm, stage 1A, grade 2 at the time of my biopsy. My BS and RO recommended IOeRT as my tumor was small and had not invaded any lymph nodes according to all preliminary tests. They aslo shared that the cancer center that I went to was conducting a study of 100 women who met the criteria of being 61+ yrs old and early stage BC were eligible for IOeRT. I was participant 88 or 89. Since my diagnosis the center has all 100 women for the study. My pathology report came back with positive results with a clear tumor margin, 0/2 nodes, but my grade was up graded to a 3. At my three month follow up with my RO and I asked about the results she said that at that point there were no recurrences with any of the participants and 2 had dropped out do to logistics, long distance travel from out of state. When I see my RO I also have an appointment with nurse in charge of data collection for the study. From all the research I've read IOeRT is as effective at reducing recurrence as mastectomy. I'm planning for a longer life due to IOeRT and the health/life changes I've made since my diagnosis and surgery. I'm struggling with my cosmetic results, as this has impacted my self-confidence and emotional state. I'm also looking at corrective surgery to address my concerns. So I know that things will be better I need to be patient. I apologize for the red underlining of the script, not sure what's going on, I'm not a technology geek! I hope this helps.

Salamandra

Stellawt57,

I'm so jealous of you that you got to do IORT, and also thankful to you for participating in a study that will hopefully lead to it being more widely available!

I think I was too young for it to be an option for me.

Best of luck and maybe keep us posted on the ongoing 'results' of the study as more becomes known?

Stellawt57

Upstate what did you decide to do for your radiation treatment and how are you doing?

Civilov3, how is your mom?

My health insurance finally paid the charge last month (6 months post treatment/surgery) my ROs office had the IOeRT treatment pre-approved, best news is I didn’t have to pay a thing. Prayers that your choice/treatment goes well too

AliceBastable

One thing I'm curious about is what happens if the sentinal node, or other nodes, do have micromets? Mine didn't show up on any pretesting scans, but a micromet was found during post-surgical pathology. How would that affect the decision to have the IORT? I know my radiation schedule went from the short schedule to the long one because of it. How can this be anticipated?

Mymomsgirl

Alice I had IORT with whole breast for 3 weeks. My RO like the idea of the combination because I was having Oncoplastic Surgery so things were going to get moved around. He treated my IORT like my boost and the whole breast is the insurance factor. He did say if there was lymph node involvement it would've meant doing 5 weeks of whole breast in addition to the IORT.