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Project Name
DIBH Radiation Therapy project
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HHS:
Metro South HHS
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Initiative:
Service Improvement
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Webpage:
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Presented by:
Nakia Beaton
Queensland’s Women’s Week is about recognising and celebrating our diverse community of strong women and the unique contributions they make in our communities. So, to acknowledge this week-long celebration (which started on March 6 – day two of the showcase), we held a dedicated plenary session with some of the best female-led projects in Queensland!
Nakia Beaton, Senior Radiation Therapist at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, kicked off the session discussing the implementation of Deep Inspiration Breath Hold or DIBH for breast cancer treatment. Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in Australia affecting 1 in 8 Australian women. Adjuvant therapies have resulted in significant survival benefits with five-year overall survival increasing from 73 per cent in 1987 to 91 per cent in 2017.
Cardiovascular (CVD) disease is the greatest non-cancer cause of death for breast cancer survivors with women with breast cancer having a higher risk of CVD than other women. This is thought to be associated with the radiation exposure the heart receives during breast cancer treatment.
DIBH is a motion management technique used for left-sided breast/chest wall patients and right sided breast patients with internal mammary nodes. Using the technique, the heart moves inferiorly, becomes more elongated, and moves away from the deep border of the radiation field thereby reducing its exposure to the radiation.
At Showcase 2020, Nikia shared the outcomes of their pilot study, which assessed whether DIBH decreases the incidence of subclinical myocardial dysfunction as determined by a 2-dimensional strain imaging echocardiography.
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