Campaign for One Dose Breast Cancer Treatment Funding

Media Release

24th February 2014

Surgeon Campaigns for One Dose, One Time Early Stage Breast Cancer Treatment to be Funded in New Zealand

The surgeon who introduced a revolutionary one dose, one time treatment for early-stage breast cancer to New Zealand is campaigning for it to be made available through the public health system.

Last year Auckland Breast Surgeon Dr Erica Whineray Kelly and a team of Auckland breast cancer specialists formed their own service, Focus Radiotherapy, to bring the new treatment option, using the Zeiss Intrabeam intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) system, to the Southern Cross Hospital, North Harbour Auckland, but they want to make it available to women across the country through the health service.

The Intrabeam intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) system avoids the traditional 36 week course of radiation therapy for 80% of patients and eliminates the need for up to a further 25 visits to hospital for post-operative radiotherapy. This is much more convenient for patients, would save the health service money and could dramatically reduce waiting lists.

Dr Erica Whineray Kelly says: `This may be an excellent therapy option for women having breast-conserving surgery. We are the first and only centre in New Zealand offering this revolutionary treatment. The goal of this approach is to destroy remaining cancer cells, helping to prevent the possibility of recurrence and in most cases eliminating the need for weeks of radiation treatments. Were working hard to introduce this to the public health system.

Under a dozen New Zealand women have received treatment so far although Intrabeam is a viable option for the thousands of women aged over fifty with grade 1-2 breast cancer seeking treatment In New Zealand.

At the time of the introduction of the treatment, in October last year, Chairperson of the Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC), Libby Burgess, said Intrabeam is a wonderful innovation for women with low-risk early breast cancer: The delivery of surgery and radiotherapy during a single operation will eliminate weeks of daily trips to the clinic, allowing women to avoid ongoing stress and inconvenience and return to their normal lives much faster.

The precise targeting of radiation to the area that the tumour was removed from will avoid unnecessary radiation to healthy tissue. Im delighted to see this option being offered to New Zealand women, Ms Burgess says.

Original post:
Campaign for One Dose Breast Cancer Treatment Funding