Intrabeam noninferior for Radiotherapy- Carl Zeiss

A clinical trial for Breast Cancer shows that a single fraction of targeted intraoperative radiotherapy (TARGIT) delivered with the Intrabeam, from Carl Zeiss, at time of lumpectomy is non-inferior to traditional external beam radiation (EBRT) delivered over three to six weeks after breast conserving surgery, for a select group of patients. The TARGIT-A trial includes 3451 patients in 33 international centers, and followed an individualized risk-adapted approach, meaning, that patients who had received TARGIT at the time of surgery showed in the final pathology additional unforeseen risk factors, received supplemental EBRT, which occurred for about 15% of the patients.

Comparing TARGIT with EBRT the difference in 5-year local recurrence between the two treatments was less than 2.5% and therefore considered "non-inferior" to standard EBRT (daily doses for 3-6 weeks) in treating the cancer. Overall mortality was 3.9% with TARGIT and 5.3% with EBRT, due to fewer deaths from cardiovascular causes and other cancers. Data is published in The Lancet. See: "Risk-adapted targeted intraoperative radiotherapy versus whole-breast radiotherapy for breast cancer" Jayant S Vaidya et al. The Lancet Vol 382 November 11, 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61950-9