An investigational protocol of intraoperative radiotherapy in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer: partial results from the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein

Abstract

Objective: To describe and assess the experience of the HospitalAlbert Einstein on the treatment of early-stage breast cancer withintraoperative radiotherapy. Methods: Twenty-two patients withinvasive breast cancer, older than 45 years, with tumors ≤ 2.5 cm andwith clinically normal axillary lymph nodes at intraoperative evaluation,who underwent quadrantectomy with sentinel lymph node biopsyand intraoperative radiotherapy. Clinical characteristics, histologicalfindings and intraoperative radiotherapy technique were assessed.Results: The mean age of patients was 60.4 years and 90.9% of themwere post-menopausal. Mean tumor diameter was 1.5 cm, with 81%being of the invasive ductal type; 89% were hormonal receptor positiveand Her-2/neu negative. Clinical stage I was found in 86.4%. Sentinellymph node was negative in 81.8%. The radiation dose was 21 Gy inall patients, with a mean radiation time of 9.65 minutes, mean surgerytime of 234 minutes and mean depth of breast tissue irradiated of 1.72cm. Conclusion: Our preliminary results are similar to those of theliterature, demonstrating that intraoperative radiotherapy is a feasibletechnique in our setting, safe and equivalent to conventional externalbeam radiotherapy, with potential radiobiological, technical, clinical,psychosocial and economic advantages.

Keywords

• Breast neoplasms/surgery
• Breast neoplasms/radiotherapy