The New Linear Accelerator of Radiochirurgia Solves Postoperative Breast Cancer Treatment in Just Five Radiations

The Special Hospital Radiochirurgia Zagreb is the first in Croatia and the region to offer patients breast radiotherapy in just five visits or fractions after a breast-conserving surgical procedure. This revolutionary method, enabled by the latest linear accelerator Varian Ethos, the most advanced device of its kind in our area, reduces the time of postoperative therapy by as much as three to five times.

Almost all patients who undergo breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer typically must also undergo postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Adjuvant radiotherapy is usually conducted over several weeks, in 15 – 25 fractions, or days. At Radiochirurgia, patients are offered adjuvant breast radiotherapy, and according to indications, also for lymph nodes in the armpit area and around the collarbone using stereotactic technique, in just five fractions using adaptive intelligence on the linear accelerator Varian Ethos. A recently published study in the prestigious journal The Lancet showed that adjuvant radiation in just five fractions has the same therapeutic effect, without more frequent or pronounced side effects in patients compared to standard fractionated radiotherapy. Namely, with the techniques typically used, a significant part of the radiation dose also affects surrounding healthy tissues, primarily the skin, lungs, and heart, which are the main organs at risk. This leads to side effects such as redness, inflammation of the breast skin, and damage to lung and heart functions.

Radiotherapy on Varian Ethos is conducted in such a way that only the breast tissue and lymphatic region are irradiated with maximum sparing of the skin, lungs, and heart. The radiation plan is controlled daily by a radiation oncologist on the device itself, and the radiation beams are individually adjusted to all, even the smallest possible variations in the patients’ anatomy. This new approach allows patients to undergo adjuvant breast cancer radiotherapy in just five days, safely and with minimal risk of developing redness and inflammation of the skin, as well as damage to lung tissue and the heart. More information is available at the link.