BHI supports on-going research projects that fall within its mission, to reduce the suffering for those touched by breast cancer. One such project is already underway at the European Institute of Oncology, under the direction of Professor Umberto Veronesi.

This innovative trial, entitled ELIOT, compares intraoperative radiotherapy with conventional 6-weeks postoperative radiotherapy. The public health impact of this trial, should it be shown that these two programs are equivalent, will be dramatic and obvious in terms of quality of life for patients and major cost savings for radiotherapy departments. In layman’s terms, this technique will be able to deliver the appropriate radiation treatment intraoperatively (during surgery), so that the traditional six-eight week post-surgery radiation may be eliminated.