Brachytherapy

Therunnergirl
Therunnergirl Member Posts: 11
in Anal Cancer #1

Did anyone have brachytherapy in combination with their external radiation and chemotherapy?

 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachytherapy

Comments

  • lp1964
    lp1964 Member Posts: 1,239 Member
    #2
    I suppose it's...

    ...getting chemo during radiation treatment, since chemo makes the tumse more sensitive to the radiation. Worked for me great, surgery found no cancerous tissue in me.

    Hope this helps,

    Laz

  • Therunnergirl
    Therunnergirl Member Posts: 11
    #3
    lp1964 said:

    I suppose it's...

    ...getting chemo during radiation treatment, since chemo makes the tumse more sensitive to the radiation. Worked for me great, surgery found no cancerous tissue in me.

    Hope this helps,

    Laz

    Internal radiation

    It is internal radiation where they place "seeds" internally near the cancerous legion. Mine was performed after I had completed 2 rounds of chemo...5fu and mitomycin....and 2 months of external radiation.  This site did not exist when I had cancer and I just found it last week.  I didn't see any mention if brachytherapy and was not sure if it was administered as standard protocol in the treatment of anal canal squamous cell carcena. I am 17 years cancer free. 

  • Marynb
    Marynb Member Posts: 1,118
    #4
    Therunnergirl said:

    Internal radiation

    It is internal radiation where they place "seeds" internally near the cancerous legion. Mine was performed after I had completed 2 rounds of chemo...5fu and mitomycin....and 2 months of external radiation.  This site did not exist when I had cancer and I just found it last week.  I didn't see any mention if brachytherapy and was not sure if it was administered as standard protocol in the treatment of anal canal squamous cell carcena. I am 17 years cancer free. 

    Internal radiation
    I have not heard of this and I have not seen any discussion of this since I was diagnosed more than 2 years ago.
  • Therunnergirl
    Therunnergirl Member Posts: 11
    #5
    Marynb said:

    Internal radiation
    I have not heard of this and I have not seen any discussion of this since I was diagnosed more than 2 years ago.

    Internal radiation

    That is why I posted the question because it worked for me in combination with the external radiation and chemo. I did not have to have surgery. 

  • eihtak
    eihtak Member Posts: 1,473 Member
    #6
    Therunnergirl said:

    Internal radiation

    That is why I posted the question because it worked for me in combination with the external radiation and chemo. I did not have to have surgery. 

    Therunnergirl.....

    I have heard of this in other cancers and have wondered myself if anyone out there was given this treatment for an anal tumor. I believe the claim is that it causes less damage to surrounding tissue, so would be a wonderful option. Thanks for bringing this topic up!

    Thats great that you are doing well for so long......that kind of news is always encouraging to hear!

    Be well.........

  • sephie
    sephie Member Posts: 650 Member
    #7
    Therunnergirl said:

    Internal radiation

    It is internal radiation where they place "seeds" internally near the cancerous legion. Mine was performed after I had completed 2 rounds of chemo...5fu and mitomycin....and 2 months of external radiation.  This site did not exist when I had cancer and I just found it last week.  I didn't see any mention if brachytherapy and was not sure if it was administered as standard protocol in the treatment of anal canal squamous cell carcena. I am 17 years cancer free. 

    runnergirl

    did you have anal cancer???? it is not standard protocol...  sephie

  • Therunnergirl
    Therunnergirl Member Posts: 11
    #8
    sephie said:

    runnergirl

    did you have anal cancer???? it is not standard protocol...  sephie

    Anal canal cancer

    Yes I had anal canal cancer. I have been cancer free for 17 years. I received external radiation and chemo and brachytherapy that is referred to as internal radiation. I had the seeds put in once a week for six weeks. I did not have surgery. 

  • lp1964
    lp1964 Member Posts: 1,239 Member
    #9
    Therunnergirl said:

    Internal radiation

    It is internal radiation where they place "seeds" internally near the cancerous legion. Mine was performed after I had completed 2 rounds of chemo...5fu and mitomycin....and 2 months of external radiation.  This site did not exist when I had cancer and I just found it last week.  I didn't see any mention if brachytherapy and was not sure if it was administered as standard protocol in the treatment of anal canal squamous cell carcena. I am 17 years cancer free. 

    My Bad!

    I think its used for prostate cancer too.

    Sorry for the misinfo.

    Laz

  • Marynb
    Marynb Member Posts: 1,118
    #10
    Therunnergirl said:

    Anal canal cancer

    Yes I had anal canal cancer. I have been cancer free for 17 years. I received external radiation and chemo and brachytherapy that is referred to as internal radiation. I had the seeds put in once a week for six weeks. I did not have surgery. 

    Side effects?
    Were there any side effects from this? I can only guess that evidence showed that the results were the same without the internal seeding. I think that if evidence showed a difference in longevity, they would still be using it?
  • eihtak
    eihtak Member Posts: 1,473 Member
    #11
    Therunnergirl said:

    Anal canal cancer

    Yes I had anal canal cancer. I have been cancer free for 17 years. I received external radiation and chemo and brachytherapy that is referred to as internal radiation. I had the seeds put in once a week for six weeks. I did not have surgery. 

    Brachetherapy.....

    I am now curious and will have to ask my doctor next time I see him.  I know several people that have had this treatment for breast cancer and have read of its use in prostate and cervical.  I just did a quick search and saw that it is listed as a treatment for several others including anal cancer at the CTCA (Cancer Treatment Centers of America)  

    It is after the fact for me, but if could have spared some of the permanent radiation damage I have with the same positive results that would have been welcome. I am also curious as to why you had both forms of radiation though.

    Anyway, always good to bring up new topics like this......thanks

  • Therunnergirl
    Therunnergirl Member Posts: 11
    #12
    eihtak said:

    Brachetherapy.....

    I am now curious and will have to ask my doctor next time I see him.  I know several people that have had this treatment for breast cancer and have read of its use in prostate and cervical.  I just did a quick search and saw that it is listed as a treatment for several others including anal cancer at the CTCA (Cancer Treatment Centers of America)  

    It is after the fact for me, but if could have spared some of the permanent radiation damage I have with the same positive results that would have been welcome. I am also curious as to why you had both forms of radiation though.

    Anyway, always good to bring up new topics like this......thanks

    Brachytherapy

    When I received my treatment, I just thought it was normal for treatment of anal canal cancer.  I really don't know why I received both internal and external radiation. In fact, until I read posts on this site that stated otherwise I had assumed everyone got it. 

  • Therunnergirl
    Therunnergirl Member Posts: 11
    #13
    Marynb said:

    Side effects?
    Were there any side effects from this? I can only guess that evidence showed that the results were the same without the internal seeding. I think that if evidence showed a difference in longevity, they would still be using it?

    Side effects

    Since I received both internal and external radiation, I do not know exactly which caused the side effects. Mine are the same as many post on here. 

  • Therunnergirl
    Therunnergirl Member Posts: 11
    #14
    eihtak said:

    Therunnergirl.....

    I have heard of this in other cancers and have wondered myself if anyone out there was given this treatment for an anal tumor. I believe the claim is that it causes less damage to surrounding tissue, so would be a wonderful option. Thanks for bringing this topic up!

    Thats great that you are doing well for so long......that kind of news is always encouraging to hear!

    Be well.........

    Thank you

    I'm glad we can share our experiences and hopefully help others. 

  • Therunnergirl
    Therunnergirl Member Posts: 11
    #15
    Marynb said:

    Side effects?
    Were there any side effects from this? I can only guess that evidence showed that the results were the same without the internal seeding. I think that if evidence showed a difference in longevity, they would still be using it?

    I'm curious now too

    I would like to find out why it isn't standard protocol. 

  • Therunnergirl
    Therunnergirl Member Posts: 11
    #16
    eihtak said:

    Brachetherapy.....

    I am now curious and will have to ask my doctor next time I see him.  I know several people that have had this treatment for breast cancer and have read of its use in prostate and cervical.  I just did a quick search and saw that it is listed as a treatment for several others including anal cancer at the CTCA (Cancer Treatment Centers of America)  

    It is after the fact for me, but if could have spared some of the permanent radiation damage I have with the same positive results that would have been welcome. I am also curious as to why you had both forms of radiation though.

    Anyway, always good to bring up new topics like this......thanks

    Let me know

    Please let me know what your doctor says. I will ask around too. 

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