Some Respite From Breast Cancer Treatments [12/24/2002; HealthSCOUT] FRIDAY, Dec. 20 (HealthScoutNews) -- Stanford University Medical Center researchers are testing a new kind of radiation treatment that may significantly reduce treatment time for women with breast cancer (news - web sites). Women taking part in the study will receive a single dose of radiation at the time of their surgery for breast cancer instead of the usual six-week course of radiation therapy. People are currently being recruited for the clinical trial, which is meant to determine if this accelerated form of radiotherapy is safe, feasible and effective in controlling breast cancer recurrence in women who have a lumpectomy. Many women with a breast tumor have a lumpectomy, in which surgeons remove the area of the breast with cancer and leave the rest of the breast intact. The lumpectomy is followed by six weeks of almost daily doses of radiation to the entire breast. That's meant to reduce the risk that the cancer will return. The idea behind the six-week course of radiation treatments was to break the total radiation dose into smaller segments to reduce side effects. However, this lengthy course of treatment can be difficult for women because it interferes with their work and family lives. .... For information about taking part in this trial, call Janelle Maxwell at 650-498-7740. Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.