What is it about?

Targeted intraoperative radiotherapy (TARGIT-IORT) delivers a concentrated dose of radiation directly to the tumour bed during breast-conserving surgery. This approach can provide local treatment while potentially influencing the immune environment surrounding the tumour. This narrative review examines the clinical use of TARGIT-IORT in breast cancer and explores its potential immunological effects, including how radiation-induced tumour-cell death may release signals that influence anti-tumour immune responses.

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Why is it important?

Radiotherapy has traditionally been viewed primarily as a way of directly destroying tumour cells. However, radiation can also alter the tumour microenvironment and release tumour-associated signals that may affect immune cells. Understanding these interactions is particularly relevant as cancer treatment increasingly combines local therapies with approaches that stimulate or modify anti-tumour immunity. TARGIT-IORT provides an interesting setting in which to explore these potential connections because radiation is delivered directly to the tumour bed at the time of surgery.

Perspectives

The immunological effects of TARGIT-IORT remain an emerging area of research. A better understanding of how targeted radiation influences tumour-cell death, immune signalling and the tumour microenvironment could help clarify whether its effects extend beyond local tumour control. Future studies integrating clinical outcomes with tumour and systemic immune biomarkers may help determine how TARGIT-IORT could be incorporated into increasingly personalised approaches to breast cancer treatment.

Dr Catherine Worsley
University of Pretoria

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Immunological and Clinical Impacts of Targeted Intraoperative Radiotherapy in Breast Cancer: A Narrative Review, Cureus, October 2025, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.94270.
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