ABSTRACT

Intraoperative radiation therapy in breast cancer (IORT) delivers a concentrated dose of radiation therapy to a tumor bed during surgery. IORT offers some of the following advantages with typically fewer complications like; maximum effect, sparing healthy tissues and organs, to help the patients finish treatment and get back to their normal activities. The goal of IORT is to improve local tumor control and survival rates for patients with breast cancer. IORT can both be performed with electron beams (ELIOT) and Xrays. Two main randomised trials testing intraoperative partial breast radiotherapy are TARGIT trial and the ELIOT (intraoperative radiotherapy with electrons) trial, but the techniques are fundamentally different. Whereas TARGIT delivers radiation from within the undisturbed tumour bed, for ELIOT, the mammary gland is mobilised, a prepectoral lead shield is inserted, the edges of the tumour bed are apposed, and radiation is delivered from without.