St John of God Subiaco Hospital glowing pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

8 Oct 2020

The initiative is being undertaken in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a national program which is held 1 – 31 October 2019 annually. 

St John of God Subiaco Hospital CEO Prof Shirley Bowen said breast cancer is the most common cancer among Australian women, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer.

“As a leading provider of complete cancer care to the Western Australian community, it is imperative that we raise awareness of the condition, as well as the importance of early detection and the impact this has on treatment options and survival,” she said.

“We are also committed to providing breast cancer patients access to the latest and most innovative care and treatments available.”

In February this year, St John of God Subiaco Hospital became the first private health care facility to introduce a rapid radiation treatment for breast cancer, called Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (IORT).

IORT is suitable for select women with early breast cancer and reduces treatment time from three to seven weeks of daily radiation to a single, targeted treatment that is administered during the surgical removal of breast cancer.

After a patient’s tumour is removed by a surgeon, and before the incision is closed, radiation is strategically delivered to the area where the tumour was located by a radiation oncologist. This provides a precise therapeutic dose to the location where recurrence is most likely to occur.

Radiation is applied for 20 to 30 minutes, targeting tissue in the tumor bed from the inside, while minimising healthy tissue exposure to radiation.

Since the treatment was introduced, more than 25 procedures have been conducted by St John of God Subiaco Hospital Breast Surgeons Prof Christobel Saunders AO, Dr Lee Jackson, Dr Corinne Jones, A/Prof Ming Yew and Dr Wen Chan Yeow.

Prof Saunders added that this new procedure offers many patient benefits.

“Compared to traditional radiation, IORT delivers a more tailored, precise and localised treatment. It also offers significant convenience to eligible patients,” she said.

“By dramatically reducing treatment time and minimising side effects, patients can spend more time and effort focusing on their recovery and can resume daily activities sooner, which we know can help to bring back a sense of normality.”

“IORT is particularly beneficial to woman who work full-time and to rural patients, who previously had to arrange and pay for accommodation for extended periods of time when coming to Perth to receive treatment.”

In addition to lighting up the specialist centre pink throughout October, Caregivers from the hospital’s Bendat Family Comprehensive Cancer Centre are hosting an information stand for patients and visitors, and podcasts specific to the condition are being released via the hospital’s Facebook and Instagram channels.

For more information about IORT, please visit sjog.org.au/subiaco/IORT