Advances in breast cancer treatment
Lake Oswego resident Mary Mogentale holds a SAVI applicator designed by Cianna Medical Inc. The applicator reduces treatment time from several weeks to just five days and provides physicians with great control over radiation delivery.
VERN UYETAKE / lake oswego review
Like the rest of us, Lake Oswego resident Mary Mogentale is never happy to hear about another person being diagnosed with breast cancer.
She is, however, very eager to share information about a new treatment that can reduce the impact of the disease on a woman’s life.
Mogentale is a registered technologist in radiology and mammography with Cianna Medical out of Aliso Viejo, Calif. Cianna Medical is a women’s health company dedicated to the treatment of early-stage breast cancer.
She travels from Lake Oswego throughout the western United States teaching physicians about the benefits of Cianna Medical’s SAVI breast brachytherapy applicator.
A little more than a generation ago, the standard treatment for women diagnosed with breast cancer was to undergo a mastectomy in which the entire breast was removed.
Over the past few decades, technological advances in detection combined with new treatment approaches have significantly increased the choices available to women.
When diagnosed early, most women have the option to save their breast by choosing breast conservation therapy (BCT).
Cianna’s mission is to make BCT available to more women, by developing new approaches to delivering follow-up radiation therapy.
The SAVI breast brachytherapy applicator addresses two key issues in radiation treatment. For women who would face hurdles completing an extended treatment schedule, SAVI reduces treatment time from daily sessions for several weeks to a simple schedule of twice-daily treatments for five days.
Many women consider this accelerated schedule to be a significant benefit.
The design of SAVI provides physicians with the greatest control over radiation delivery.
SAVI has the ability to contour the radiation to the cavity, which allows physicians to customize the radiation treatment plan for each patient.
When therapy can be individualized, the physician can give the patient better treatment.
How does SAVI work?
An applicator is inserted into the lumpectomy cavity through a small incision in the breast.
This can be done at the time of the lumpectomy or as a post-operative procedure.
The physician expands the catheters to conform to the cavity. The ends of the catheters remain accessible during the treatment.
A tiny radioactive seed is placed in each catheter by a computer controlled machine. This delivers the radiation to areas where cancer is most likely to recur, while reducing exposure of healthy tissue like the skin, heart and lungs.
The radiation source is completely removed after each treatment. Typical treatment is twice a day for five days.
After the five-day course of radiation is complete, the physician closes the catheters and gently removes the SAVI applicator.
Removal of the applicator is nearly painless and does not require anesthetic.
“Think how much easier it would be to go through five days of treatment rather than a long six week session,” said Mogentale. “This will make life so much easier for women and we believe more women will be willing to complete their treatment with this short term plan.
“We tend not to talk about cancer treatment until we need it and then our judgement is clouded with emotion and the shock of having cancer,” she continued. “Wouldn’t it be great to learn about SAVI now, and share the information with others? I hope people will visit the Web site to learn about SAVI.”
To learn more about SAVI visit www.ciannamedical.com or e-mail Mogentale directly at mmogentale@ciannamedical.com.