August, 2007: New Radiation Technique Reduces Breast Cancer Treatment Side Effects

Women with early stage breast cancer who receive a newer type of radiation called intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) develop significantly fewer side effects than women who receive traditional radiation therapy, according to a study released today in the August 1 edition of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, the official journal of ASTRO (American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology). IMRT is a specialized type of radiation therapy in which the radiation beam can be broken up into many beamlets and the intensity of each beamlet can be adjusted individually to better fit the contours of a woman's breast.