This study looked at the efficiacy of a certain type of brachytherapy (internal radiation) device, the Strut-Adjusted Volume Implant (SAVI) in 102 breast cancer patients after a median of two years.
The SAVI "is designed to allow dose modulation to minimize normal tissue dose while simultaneously maximizing target coverage." In other words, this implant allows the oncologist to deliver concentrated doses of radiation to the cancerous area while minimizing the exposure to the healthy surrounding tissue. In this regard it is customized radiotherapy.
SAVI requires just five days, compared to whole breast radiation which can last six weeks.
CANCER TYPE(S)
Breast cancer
TREATMENT TYPE
Brachytherapy
CONCLUSIONS
Researchers report that SAVI is safe, well-tolerated by patients, and allows "an increase in eligibility for Accelerated Partial-Breast Irradiation" among the patient population.
WHERE WAS THIS RESEARCH PUBLISHED?
The International Journal of Radiation Oncology
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
SAVI is a device made by a company called Cianna Medical.
-- Three of the authors credited in the citation below serve on Cianna's advisory board
-- Another author has received "honoraria"—payment—from Cianna for lecturing about SAVI.
-- Finally, two other authors are from Arizona Oncology Services Foundation, which received a $5,000 grant from Cianna Medical to help finance this study.
By Ross Bonander
Note:
This study is not unlike many studies that appear in respected journals in that there's nothing wrong with the science but the content itself offers little in the realm of advancing medical knowledge; rather, the research serves as a publicity tool—in this case, by Cianna for the SAVI.
Ross
Citation
Catheryn Yashar, Daniel Scanderbeg, Robert Kuske, Anne Wallace, Victor Zannis, Sarah Blair, Emily Grade, Virginia H. Swenson, Coral Quiet. "Initial Clinical Experience With the Strut-Adjusted Volume Implant (SAVI) Breast Brachytherapy Device for Accelerated Partial-Breast Irradiation (APBI): First 100 Patients With More Than 1 Year of Follow-Up." Intl Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * Physics. 21 June 2010 (10.1016/j.ijrobp.2010.02.018)
