[3] The largest experience with IORT using the TARGIT technique and the best evidence for its potentials exists in breast cancer where a substantial number of patients have already been treated.

[4] In patients having lumpectomy for breast cancer, the TARGIT-A(lone) randomized controlled trial (recruitment from 2000–2012) tested whether TARGIT within a risk-adapted approach is non-inferior to conventional course of external beam postoperative radiotherapy given over several weeks.

[8] Concerns cited included the immaturity of the data with a median follow up of the entire population being only two years and five months, as well as the noninferiority criterion used in the study.

[12] On 21 May 2015, the Australian Government Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) announced that "After considering the available evidence in relation to safety, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, MSAC supported public funding of a new Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) item for treatment of pathologically documented invasive ductal breast cancer in eligible patients with TARGIT-IORT when used concurrently with breast-conserving surgery".

[15] On 26 May 2015, in response to a query by the British Medical Journal, NICE clarified that while their appraisal is going on, TARGIT IORT with Intrabeam can continue to be offered to patients who need it.

Conventional radiation techniques such as external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) following surgical removal of the tumour have been time tested and proven to be effective.

These potentially harmful effects may be avoided by delivering the radiation more precisely to the targeted tissues leading to immediate sterilization of residual tumour cells.

TARGIT irradiation has also been shown to affect the properties of wound fluid, which may be linked to cancer cell proliferation and possibly local recurrence.