Less, more accurate doses has to be one aim and it seems a specialist group (the Arizona breast cancer specialists) may have developed a solution. They have created a new surgical marker with a unique open-spiral design incorporating six permanent titanium clips in a fixed 3D array to provides specific landmarks at the site of the excised tumour. This allows the surgeon to secure the tissue to the device and use it for oncoplastic reconstruction, patient positioning, and radiation treatment planning.
A new surgical marker enables radiation oncologists to deliver more precise radiation therapy for breast cancer patients, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO).
The device has been used successfully in both the U.S. and New Zealand. It is made of a bioabsorbable material commonly used in other medical devices, allowing the patient’s body to absorb the material slowly so it does not require surgical removal after treatments are completed.
The research study was conducted by Robert Kuske, M.D who documented physicians’ clinical experiences with the BioZorb™ Tissue Marker, (Focal Therapeutics, Inc.).
Dr. Kuske, the innovator, is the pioneer of APBI, a 5-day alternative to conventional, six-week- long whole-breast irradiation for select early-stage breast cancer patients.