Brachytherapy

Talksalot

I was diagnosed last week with Stage 1 - I have a 2mm tumor in one area of my left breast. This showed up as calcifications on a regular mammogram and was thought to be Stage 0---DCIS. Now following the stereotatic biopsy and an MRI, I am facing a lumpectomy (and a sentinel node biopsy now) with radiation (and follow up meds) and was wondering if anyone has any experience with brachytherapy either with the radioactive seeds or electonically. This targets the tumor area for a week - twice a day. (What do you think about this vs whole breast radiation?) I am not sure if I am a candidate for this, but I was wondering if anyone has been through this new treatment. Please advise. Many thanks.

mgm42

I'm not familiar with brachytherapy, but you may want to investigate mammosite therapy. This is a process whereby they place a baloon inside the cavity from which they removed the tumor. Once the baloon is inserted, they expand it. I'm not sure if they fill it with liquid or not. But, you will only have 10 radiation treatments, two a day for five days. Then they deflate the baloon and you're finished. It means that they only radiate the section of the breast where the cancer cells may be lurking. Please look up mammosite on this website. I'm no doctor so my explanation is strictly a layman's version. I hope this helps. My tumor was 1.7cm. I went in to have an ultrasound to find out if my tumor cavity was capable of holding the baloon. Unfortuantely, I had one portion that was too close the surface of the skin. So, I'm up for the whole breast radiation once I finish my chemo. Good luck. Marilynn

bev49

Marilynn explained it very well, as my surgeon did about 3 years ago when the procedure was brand new. I was not able to have it done, as my tumor was to big, but he described it the way Marilynn did, and it sounds like a very positive way to receive rads without whole breast involvement. This doesn't last very long either, where my rads lasted for 33 sessions, at one per day. I am sure you will receive even more messages from those women who have had this done, and they can better inform you of just what is done. They keep coming up with better, safer treatments all the time, and this is one of them. Take care, and keep us posted on what you find out so we can have a better understanding of this procedure too.
Blessings,
bev49

KathiM

My onc spoke at a seminar recently about this. It is considered a much better alternative if the conditions are right. I had the traditional rads, and because of the position of the tumor, a slice of my lung is now permanently damaged.

I am so excited about this....please keep us posted!

Hugs, Kathi