Breast Cancer: UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Revolutionary Innovation

Protecting the Heart from Left Breast Radiation: UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Villa Maria Launches Pioneering Technology in Italy

Continuous technological innovation for increasingly effective treatments. UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Villa Maria offers advanced radiotherapy for the treatment of primary, metastatic, and relapsing tumors. The Center, located in the province of Avellino, was established in 2018 in partnership with Casa di Cura Villa Maria and has been part of the Italian NHS since 2019.

In collaboration with Brainlab, a pioneer of digital medical technology, the Center introduced ExacTrac Dynamic, a system offering an innovative approach to breast cancer treatment.

ExacTrac Dynamic unifies the power and precision of cutting-edge tracking technologies delivering high-precision treatments for a wide range of patient positioning and monitoring workflows throughout the course of treatment. ExacTrac Dynamic currently supports patient treatment with Deep Inspiration Breath Hold. This technique is particularly effective for left breast treatment since, when the patient takes a deep breath, the distance between the heart and the chest cavity is increased, reducing the risk of cardiac toxicity during breast cancer treatment.

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Villa Maria is the first center in Italy to offer this procedure, marking an important step forward in the treatment of breast cancer and offering state-of-the-art, precise, and highly effective radiotherapy. The Center's staff was trained to use this new technology and improve patient care quality, a top priority for UPMC.

Located in the province of Avellino, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Villa Maria is the oncology center of reference for Central-Southern Italy, bringing this oncology revolution to the communities it serves. Back in 2021, the Center introduced in the region of Campania Brainlab's ExacTrac Dynamic system that allows to monitor patient positioning not only before, but also during treatment, offering submillimetric radiotherapy positioning and monitoring accuracy. Since then, the system has helped monitor several types of high-precision clinical treatments, including brain metastases, and brain, spinal, and bone lesions.