MIT heat treatment begins final clinical trials.(breast cancer treatment)

2002 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A breast cancer treatment based on MIT Lincoln Lab radar research has advanced to randomized clinical trials, the final phase of clinical testing.

Approximately 220 women with early-stage breast cancer will participate in the new study, which began October 1, 2002.

In the study, microwave radiation focused externally on the breast will be delivered prior to lumpectomy and radiation therapy. The goal is to kill tumor cells and reduce the need for additional surgery.

Early results from a prior phase II clinical trial were promising. A majority of the patients treated with the microwave heat therapy showed significant tumor kill prior to lumpectomy, according to Dr. Robert A. Gardner, a breast surgeon at Columbia Hospital's Center for Breast Care in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Gardner and Dr. Hernan I. Vargas of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center presented the results at the 2002 American Society of Breast Surgeons Meeting in April 2002 and in the May 2002 issue of the Annals of Surgical Oncology. The data for 20 patients treated in that trial were submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which resulted in FDA approval to ...