HDR Brachytherapy:
Fighting Breast Cancer in Less Time with Greater Precision
Brachytherapy has long been used to destroy cancer cells by delivering radiation within the body. However, traditional methods involve placing a weak source of radiation at the tumor site, and patients are usually confined to a specially shielded hospital room for many days until the course of therapy is complete. The latest method—High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy—provides the most advanced technology for fighting breast cancer. This therapy allows higher doses of radiation to be delivered with greater precision and accuracy without destroying surrounding, healthy tissue. When appropriate, it is the treatment option of choice as it takes only 1 week to complete therapy (vs. 6-7 weeks with traditional radiation therapy), and therapy is performed on an outpatient basis. At SightLine, we employ the latest HDR brachytherapy technology, which allows treating physicians more flexibility in their treatment options and reduces the length of each individual treatment session for patients.
For patients, HDR brachytherapy means:
- Greatly shortened duration of therapy
- More effective treatment focused on cancer cells
- Less radiation exposure to normal tissue, particularly the lungs and opposite breast
- Potentially fewer and milder side effects, particularly skin irritation from external radiation
- No delays in other treatments, such as chemotherapy
How HDR Brachytherapy Works
The overall goal of HDR brachytherapy is to deliver short and precise amounts of high-dose radiation to cancerous tumors while minimizing exposure to healthy tissue. Under CT and x-ray guidance, a catheter is inserted into the body up to the site of the tumor; the other end of the catheter is left outside the body. During therapy, the end of the catheter outside the body is connected to a computerized machine that passes a small, radioactive pellet (or “seed”) through the catheter and guides it to the tumor site. The positioning of the seed and the duration of time it is left in the body is used to control and precisely shape the radiation dose for different parts of the tumor.
For breast cancer, HDR brachytherapy can be performed in one of two ways, depending on the size and location of the tumor in relationship to the size and shape of the breast:
- Balloon-catheter brachytherapy involves inserting a single catheter into the breast under local anesthetic. An inflatable balloon at the end of the catheter is positioned inside the cavity left behind after lumpectomy. During each treatment session, a tiny radioactive source is directed with millimeter precision into the center of the balloon.
- Multiple-catheter brachytherapy is similar to the balloon-catheter method, except that several small catheters without balloons are inserted into the breast. The radioactive material is delivered into each catheter simultaneously.