Celldex Therapeutics to present poster on its first antibody-drug conjugate product

September 04, 2015

Many breast cancer patients with small breasts or skin spacing issues (those whose tumor is close to the skin surface) cannot be treated by other forms of breast brachytherapy. For example, some balloon brachytherapy applicators cannot be used on smaller cavities or those close to the skin surface or other body structures.

Ten (33%) of the patients in the UCSD study would not have been eligible for balloon brachytherapy treatment because of skin spacing issues. The design of SAVI allowed all of them to receive breast brachytherapy with the device.

SAVI is implemented as part of breast conservation therapy, encompassing lumpectomy surgery to remove the breast cancer and follow-up radiation. In this case, the radiation is delivered inside the breast by brachytherapy.

The device??™s multi-catheter design enables physicians to carefully direct and modulate the radiation dose. By using a more precisely targeted dose of radiation, SAVI treats the tissue surrounding the lumpectomy cavity while minimizing the exposure of healthy tissue to radiation. SAVI treatment is completed in just five days compared to the six weeks of treatment, five days a week, that are typically required by traditional, external-beam radiation treatment.

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