DORDRECHT – Women with breast cancer who undergo breast-conserving surgery are expected to be helped even better in the future thanks to new joint research from the Breast Clinic at Albert Schweitzer Hospital and Erasmus MC. The BeterKeten Foundation has awarded a subsidy of 207,000 euros for this this week. This allows a PhD student to be recruited for a three-year scientific study, called STARLINGS.
The expectation is that the research will lead to a model to predict the best combination of surgery and radiation techniques, say the initiators, surgeon Marian Menke of the Albert Schweitzer hospital and radiotherapist Femke Froklage of Erasmus MC. Froklage: “Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. In the past, a breast was often amputated after the discovery of a tumor. Nowadays, breast-conserving treatment is possible in 60 to 70 percent of patients, through a combination of surgical removal of the tumor and irradiation. ”
Menke: “Various ‘oncoplastic’ surgical techniques have been developed over the past ten years. We try to reconstruct the breast as well as possible with the breast tissue itself or from another location, for example the upper abdomen or flank. This procedure takes place at the same time as the removal of the tumor. In addition to curing breast cancer, maintaining a breast that is as beautiful as possible is also very valuable for the quality of life of the patient. ”
However, over time, fibrosis can occur in the treated breast. “This creates connective tissue, which can deform or shrink the breast and harden it locally, which is uncomfortable for the patient.” Both medical specialists want to prevent this as much as possible in the future. They devised a research plan for this and registered it for the BeterKeten subsidy. “In order to prevent fibrosis, we first need to better understand the role of the various oncoplastic surgery techniques in combination with radiation. Now we don’t have enough insight into that yet. ”
The PhD student who will be conducting the research will look back at the results in women who have undergone surgery in one of four hospitals in the past and were subsequently irradiated in Erasmus MC. ” In addition to the Erasmus MC and Albert Schweitzer hospital themselves, these are the Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland and the Maasstad Hospital.
“Every breast is different and every tumor is different,” said the initiators. “There are also various choices we can make in terms of surgery and radiation technology. In the STARLINGS study, we look for the success factors that yielded the best results in the past. We hope for a practically applicable model that will provide us with the best choices in advance for the optimal cosmetic result and the best quality of life, while retaining a good chance of recovery. ”
The BeterKeten Foundation, which is funding the research, aims to stimulate and improve cooperation between hospitals in the Groot-Rijnmond region in the field of patient care, training and science. For the fourth time, the foundation is investing in three promising joint PhD programs, of which the STARLINGS study is one this year. The other two are about a care pathway for premature children at Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland and about better diagnostics for a specific tumor in the digestive system of Maasstad Hospital.
STARLINGS is derived from ‘An integrated optimization of Surgical and radioTherApy techniques to impRove cosmetic outcome and quaAT THEty of life iN breast conserviNG therapy for breast cancer patientS’
Photo
Director Marlise Schouten of the BeterKeten Foundation (right) symbolically hands over the research money to surgeon Marian Menke (middle) and radiotherapist Femke Froklage in the Breast Clinic.
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