The recognition was granted at the 44th Congress of the Spanish Society of Senology and Breast Pathology, held in Malaga, for a scientific presentation reporting the results of 1,222 women treated in Aragon between 2015 and 2025. The study analyzes ten years of experience with a technique that allows radiotherapy to be administered during breast cancer surgery itself.
The study, titled “Ten Years of Risk-Adapted Partial Breast Irradiation Using Intraoperative Radiotherapy,” presents one of the largest series studied in Spain on this procedure. The accumulated experience places the Multihospital Clinical Unit of Radiation Oncology of Aragon (UCMORA) among the groups with the greatest expertise and follow-up of patients treated with this technique.
TEN YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN ARAGON
Intraoperative radiotherapy allows a single dose of radiation to be administered during surgery. After the tumor has been removed through breast-conserving surgery, the radiation is applied directly to the area where the lesion was located before the incision is closed.
This strategy makes it possible to adapt treatment to each patient’s risk. In more than 75% of the women included in the study, radiotherapy was completed during the operation itself, avoiding additional sessions afterward. In around 23% of cases, treatment later had to be supplemented with external radiotherapy after additional risk factors were detected.
“Our goal is to de-escalate treatment whenever possible and intensify it when necessary,” explains Arantxa Campos Bonel, a radiation oncologist and author of the award-winning presentation. The specialist argues that this model makes it possible to offer each woman the treatment best suited to her individual characteristics.
A 1.9% RECURRENCE RATE
The results presented by the Aragonese team show a local recurrence rate of 1.9%, similar to that recorded with other established therapeutic strategies. According to the authors, these data support the safety and efficacy of intraoperative radiotherapy in appropriately selected patients.
The patients included in the research came from across Aragon and were mostly women over 50 or postmenopausal, with early-stage, low-risk breast cancer who were candidates for breast-conserving surgery.
The award recognizes ten years of multidisciplinary work involving professionals in Radiation Oncology, Hospital Medical Physics, General Surgery, Gynecology, Diagnostic Radiology, Pathology and Nursing from hospitals throughout the region. Collaboration among these teams has helped consolidate the technique in Aragon and advance toward more personalized radiotherapy tailored to each patient’s individual risk.
