MAYWOOD, IL – Loyola Medicine is among the select centers that offer a broad range of cancer patients a leading-edge form of radiation therapy that is delivered during surgery.
The treatment is called intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT). After the tumor is removed, a concentrated dose of radiation is delivered to the tumor bed to kill any microscopic cancer cells left behind, thereby reducing the chance the cancer will recur.
Higher doses can be safely given because radiation is applied directly to the tumor site and doctors can move or shield healthy organs to protect them from the radiation, said Loyola Medicine radiation oncologist William Small, Jr., MD, FACRO, FACR, FASTRO, chair of the department of radiation oncology, director of Loyola’s Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center and one of the nation’s leading IORT experts.
Loyola is among the few centers that have the multidisciplinary expertise to use IORT on multiple cancers, including breast, gynecologic, head and neck, pancreatic, colorectal, brain and bone cancers.
In some patients, IORT is provided as a boost to standard radiation therapy given before or after surgery. In other cases, patients can receive all the radiation they need during surgery.
Breast cancer patient Marie Bartolo has a busy life, so she elected to have IORT during her lumpectomy rather than undergo traditional radiation treatments five days a week for four to six weeks. The IORT was delivered by Dr. Small, working closely with breast surgeon Constantine Godellas, MD, FACS.
“I got back my life really quickly,” Ms. Bartolo said. “I think intraoperative radiation therapy helps you heal mentally and physically much more quickly.”
Loyola physicians are helping to advance cancer care by conducting clinical trials on IORT and other treatments at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center. The nationally renowned cancer center is recognized as high-performing by U.S. News & World Report and accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago's western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from nearly 2,000 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. LUMC is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. and Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the John L. Keeley, MD, Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois's largest burn center, the Nancy W. Knowles Orthopaedic Institute, a certified comprehensive stroke center, transplant center and a children’s hospital. Having delivered compassionate care for over 50 years, Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.
For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter).
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 127,000 colleagues and more than 38,300 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 26 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 93 hospitals, 107 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 142 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2024, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.3 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).