Renowned surgeon Dr. Umberto Veronesi, founder of the European Institute of Oncology, shared for the first time the results of a long-awaited, eight-year randomized trial comparing his breast cancer patients’ response to two types of radiation therapy. The results so far show that women who received breast conserving surgery, followed by a single dose of intraoperative electron-beam radiation therapy (IOERT) at the time of surgery, had an equal chance of survival as women who underwent the surgery, followed by six weeks of post-operative radiation therapy.

These amazing findings demonstrate that the standard radiation regimen for some lumpectomy patients – already expensive, sometimes painful, and very time-consuming – may be unnecessary.

Dr. Veronesi told the cancer specialists attending ISIORT from 21 countries around the world that IOERT has “obvious advantages in terms of overall treatment time, costs, patient comfort, cosmetic results and quality of life.” He continued, “In my opinion, this will become the routine procedure for breast conserving therapy.”

But while IOERT is quickly becoming the protocol for breast cancer radiation therapy in Europe, most American women are unaware this choice even exists. Those that dare to bring the alternative radiation treatment to their doctors’ attention are experiencing resistance from hospitals unwilling to even investigate the life-saving devices that administer this treatment.