Stanford APBI Trial
Clinical Trial
Overview
Intraoperative Radiotherapy (IORT) is one of three approaches used for accelerated, partial breast irradiation at Stanford.
Accelerated, partial breast irradiation (APBI) is a potentially important new way to incorporate radiotherapy in the treatment of women with breast cancer.
Currently, women with breast cancer who undergo a lumpectomy typically have 6 1/2 weeks of radiation to the entire affected breast after surgery. Accelerated, partial breast irradiation (APBI) changes this approach in two ways. It shortens the treatment time from 6 1/2 weeks to between 1 to 5 days, and reduces the treatment area from the entire breast to the area of the breast immediately around the lumpectomy site. This is the part of the breast where most cancers are likely to recur.
In many ways APBI is to current whole breast radiotherapy what a lumpectomy is to a mastectomy. The goal is to use a less invasive more focused treatment without compromising survival.
APBI has been used in limited trials in several hundred patients over the last 10 years. These trials show that in properly selected breast cancer patients APBI worked just as well as whole breast radiotherapy. In the initial studies, investigators relied on the placement of many catheters in the breast tissue (interstial brachytherapy). Newer techniques will hopefully provide the same good results but will deliver the radiation in faster and/or more convenient ways. This could increase interest in APBI and allow additional clinical trials that test the safety and effectiveness of the newer approaches. These newer approaches could increase quality of life for many women with breast cancer.
Investigators at Stanford University Medical Center are currently offering an IRB approved clinical trial that uses three new approaches for APBI. These three approaches are:
Intraoperative Radiotherapy (IORT) - 1 day
Intracavitary Brachytherapy (MammoSite) - 5 days
3-D Conformal/External Beam Radiotherapy - 5 days
The Stanford trial is led by Dr. Frederick Dirbas, Assistant Professor of Surgery, and by Dr. Donald Goffinet, Professor of Radiation Oncology. For further information about the trial please contact Janelle Maxwell or Triona Dolphin at (650) 498-7740.
Assessment of Pain in People With Thalassemia Who Are Treated With Regular Blood Transfusions
Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that can result in mild to severe anemia. Regular blood transfusions, which refresh the healthy red blood cell supply, are one treatment for thalassemia. People with thalassemia often experience pain, but the exact source of pain remains unknown. This study will examine how pain varies during the blood transfusion cycle in people with thalassemia who are treated with regular blood transfusions.
Stanford is currently not accepting patients for this trial.
Stanford Investigator(s):
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- Participating in the Thalassemia Clinical Research Network Assessment of Pain study
- Has a transfusion dependence of at least eight transfusions per year
- Diagnosis of beta thalassemia or E-beta-thalassemia
- Experiences at least "mild" pain in the 1 month before study entry, as measured by the
response to the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) question #6 from the Assessment of Pain
study
Exclusion Criteria:
- Unwillingness or inability to complete the Brief Pain Inventory Short Form (BPI-SF) on
a daily basis
Ages Eligible for Study
18 Years - N/A
Genders Eligible for Study
All
Not currently accepting new patients for this trial
Contact Information
Stanford University
School of Medicine
300 Pasteur Drive
Stanford,
CA
94305
Not Recruiting
What's New
Stanford’s APBI trial has now been expanded to include women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Please call 650-498-7740 for more information.