Cancer advance cuts queues

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX

A new breast cancer treatment that could help slash waiting lists was used for the first time in Australia yesterday and is likely to be tested here within six months.

The intra-operative radiotherapy (Iort) treatment was unveiled at the Australian and New Zealand Breast Cancer Conference in Hamilton Island, Queensland, last week.

It involves using a single dose of low-energy x-ray during surgery, immediately after the tumour has been removed from the breast.

The radiation targets the specific area that held the tumour and, although further radiotherapy might still be needed, it reduces the amount of follow-up treatment.

It could also make treatment more manageable and less disruptive, especially for patients who do not live close to oncology centres.

Wellington cancer specialist and Cancer Society medical director Dr Peter Dady said that because radiotherapy was used at the time of surgery, women were at less risk of their condition worsening as they waited for follow-up radiotherapy.

Auckland Hospital's radiotherapy waiting list has recently been up to 20 weeks.