Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT)

At Advocate Health Care, patients with breast cancer have access to the most advanced treatments unavailable at many other hospitals in the Chicagoland area. One of the latest options includes intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT); a procedure which can reduce or even eliminate the need for traditional radiation.

IORT is a multidisciplinary approach in which a breast surgeon performs a lumpectomy and a radiation oncologist delivers targeted radiation treatment directly to the tumor site immediately after the procedure. This helps destroy the cancer cells that remain, yet spare normal breast tissue.

For breast cancer patients who qualify, this therapy also means one single radiation treatment is performed at the time of the lumpectomy, instead of a traditional course of radiation therapy spread over one month.

How it works

After your surgeon has removed the tumor, your radiation oncologist positions the radiation applicator tip in the area of the breast where the tumor was located. Low energy radiation is delivered locally to the targeted tissue in the tumor bed, minimizing exposure to healthy tissue. After 20-30 minutes of radiotherapy, the applicator is removed and the surgeon closes the incision.

Benefits of IORT

• In some cases, treatment time is reduced from an average of six weeks to a single dose during surgery
• Patients do not have to wait for surgery to heal to begin conventional radiation
• IORT used as a boost (targeted supplemental dose of radiation in addition to regular radiation treatments) can reduce treatment duration by one to two weeks
• Fewer skin reactions, such as redness, rashes or irritations
• Less irritation of healthy breast tissue due to the precise targeting of the therapy
• Minimized exposure to healthy tissue and organs such as the ribs, lungs, heart and opposite breast
• No treatment delay for patients who must also undergo chemotherapy as part of their breast cancer treatment
• Internal radiation delivery within the tumor cavity provides a precise, therapeutic dose where it is needed most – in the location where the tumor growing back is most likely to occur