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Breast
Cancer Trial examines shorter Radiation
Course
Newswise — Researchers at The Cancer
Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have launched
a clinical trial that focuses on a shorter
course of radiation treatment for those with
early-stage breast cancer. CINJ is a Center
of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School.
Studies have shown that giving radiation
therapy to the breast after the cancer is
removed through surgery (lumpectomy) helps
keep the disease from coming back in that
area.
The current treatment standard is known as
whole breast irradiation (WBI), in which
radiation is targeted at the entire breast.
It is given for five days a week for five to
seven weeks.
Partial breast irradiation (PBI) is also
used, but is only targeted to the area of
the breast where the lumpectomy was
performed. This treatment is given twice a
day for five days.
Many patients, however, are not suitable
candidates for PBI, and thus require WBI,
which can be burdensome for many women due
to the length of treatment.
In this study, women who are not suitable
for PBI alone will receive a shorter course
of WBI. The daily radiation dose to be
delivered will be higher in the WBI
treatment than in the standard course.
Atif Khan, MD, a radiation oncologist at
CINJ and assistant professor of radiation
oncology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School, is the lead investigator of
the study.
“By
offering a more accelerated course of
radiation over a shorter period of time, we
hope we can provide another option to those
patients who are not good candidates for PBI,”
he said.
“And
since we’re cutting the treatment time by
nearly half, that is less time patients will
need to spend traveling to and from the
treatment site, thus improving their quality
of life.”
Before taking part in the trial, interested
participants will undergo a physical exam,
mammogram, chest x-ray and other tests.
Participants
who are selected will have radiation
treatment to the whole breast once a day for
11 days.
They will also receive four treatments to
the immediate area where the lumpectomy was
performed either before or after the whole
breast treatments.
The entire treatment course will be complete
in three weeks.
Following treatment, participants will have
follow-up physical exams and a mammogram at
regular intervals for the next five years.
Women over age 18 who are diagnosed with
early stage breast cancer and have had or
are going to have a lumpectomy to remove the
disease, are eligible to participate,
although other criteria also must be met.
For more information on how to take part,
individuals should call CINJ’s Office of
Human Research Services at 732-235-8675.
Clinical trials, often called cancer
research studies, test new treatments and
new ways of using existing treatments for
cancer.
At CINJ, researchers use these studies to
answer questions about how a treatment
affects the human body and to make sure it
is safe and effective.
There are several types of clinical trials
currently underway at CINJ, including those
that diagnose, treat, prevent, and manage
symptoms of cancer.
Many treatments used today, whether drugs or
vaccines; ways to do surgery or give
radiation therapy; or combinations of
treatments, are the results of past clinical
trials.
As New Jersey’s only National Cancer
Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer
Center, CINJ offers patients access to
treatment options not available at other
institutions within the state.
CINJ currently enrolls more than 1,000
patients on clinical trials, including
approximately 15 percent of all new adult
cancer patients and approximately 70 percent
of all pediatric cancer patients.
Enrollment in these studies nationwide is
fewer than five percent of all adult cancer
patients.
About The Cancer Institute of New Jersey
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (www.cinj.org)
is the state’s first and only National
Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive
Cancer Center, and is dedicated to improving
the prevention, detection, treatment and
care of patients with cancer.
CINJ’s physician-scientists engage in
translational research, transforming their
laboratory discoveries into clinical
practice, quite literally bringing research
to life.
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey is a
center of excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood
Johnson Medical School. To support CINJ,
please call the Cancer Institute of New
Jersey Foundation at 1-888-333-CINJ.
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey Network
is comprised of hospitals throughout the
state and provides a mechanism to rapidly
disseminate important discoveries into the
community.
Flagship Hospital: Robert Wood Johnson
University Hospital. Major Clinical Research
Affiliate Hospitals: Carol G. Simon Cancer
Center at Morristown Memorial Hospital,
Carol G. Simon Cancer Center at Overlook
Hospital, and Jersey Shore University
Medical Center.
Affiliate Hospitals: Bayshore Community
Hospital, CentraState Healthcare System,
Cooper University Hospital*, JFK Medical
Center, Mountainside Hospital, Raritan Bay
Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson
University Hospital at Hamilton (CINJ at
Hamilton), Saint Peter’s University
Hospital, Somerset Medical Center, Southern
Ocean County Hospital, The University
Hospital/UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School*,
and University Medical Center at Princeton.
*Academic Affiliate