For the first time in the world, a patient with a small breast cancer has been treated with a single session of radiotherapy in the operating room during the surgery removing her tumor (Intraoperative Radiotherapy – IORT) thanks to the new Papillon+™ device in two minutes instead of the previous 30 minutes.
With this innovation, the patient was able to be treated in a single day, instead of 3 or 4 days of hospitalization and 6 weeks of radiotherapy.
Since 2011, it has been possible to perform radiotherapy during surgery with the Intrabeam™ device. Once the tumor is removed, the surgeon and the radiation oncologist position a spherical applicator to place a 50 kV low-penetration X-ray tube. The irradiation is then delivered while the patient remains under general anesthesia. The drawback of the Intrabeam™ device is that the irradiation time is 30 minutes.
A Reduced Radiation Time
With the brand new Papillon+™ device designed by Prof. Jean Pierre GERARD, Radiotherapist at the Antoine Lacassagne Center, in cooperation with a British start-up (ARIANE cpy), the irradiation time is reduced to 1 or 2 minutes thanks to an original cooling system.
A Step Further Towards More Healing, Without Mutilation
The first patient benefiting from this new technique was operated on last October 26. A second patient was operated on under identical circumstances on November 16 by Prof. Emmanuel BARRANGER. This clinical study controlled by the HAS (Haute Autorité de Santé) has to include 46 patients.
“We hope for at least 90% cure rates and less than 4% local recurrence. It is likely that by 2019 this technique, for the moment reserved for patients aged 60 or over (after 60 years the risk of local recurrence is lower), will become widespread in France and worldwide,” declares Prof. Jean Pierre GERARD.
