I’ve been an oncologist for more than 30 years. During that time I’ve seen a revolution in breast cancer treatment. Gone are the days of the radical mastectomy where the breast was removed along with a large amount of surrounding tissue, leaving horrible scars.
Nowadays we have more conservative treatment where the cancer is removed but the breast is left in tact. But to avoid the cancer coming back at the original site we have to give patients radiotherapy. The breast is a very challenging organ to irradiate.
Underneath there are critical structures such as the lungs, heart and nerves. Making sure these structures are outside the treatment site is essential to avoid long-term side effects.
Fortunately modern technology such as that offered at
CancerPartnersUK centres allows us to avoid side effects. The beam can be aimed precisely, using image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and image modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) to enable us to ensure it’s going to the right place.
This kind of radiotherapy really does reduce the number of women that have to suffer the long term complications of treatment.
Find out more about our approach.
Karol Sikora
Medical Director
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