MammoSite Brachytherapy Results Reported
MammoSite Brachytherapy Results Reported
August 30, 2007 -
Recent studies have shown the effectiveness of MammoSite brachytherapy, a treatment used to help women in their early stages of breast cancer.
Researchers are continuing to study the treatment and are comparing it to radiation treatments to determine how breast cancer patients can be treated in the fastest, most effective way.
Breast Cancer Patients Treated
For patients with small, localized breast cancers, the treatment is used as an alternative to a lumpectomy and radiation therapy.
The radioactive implants, brachytherapy, are used to implement a more precise radiation therapy.
Less radiation is usually delivered to the skin with this newer method of treatment than with external beam radiation.
Brachytherapy can usually be administered in five days as opposed to the five to seven weeks that is required for external beam radiation therapy.
What is MammoSite?
The MammoSite is a device that’s used to deliver partial-breast irradiation (APBI).
This FDA approved device comes in the form of a balloon and is placed over the area being operated on and connected by a catheter to the skin.
Study Conducted
In a study conducted at the Beaumont Cancer Institute, 80 patients in the early stages of breast cancer were analyzed.
After a 22 month follow up, researchers found 88 percent of the results to be successful in minimizing the cancer and slowing progression.
(Source: Cancer News)
Are you currently going through breast cancer? If so, contact one of our board certified surgeons to learn more about MammoSite brachytherapy and other treatments.
