Brachytherapy News and Research

RSS

Brachytherapy is a minimally invasive procedure that involves the use of radioactive seeds the size of rice grains. Brachytherapy, an out-patient procedure, usually takes 45 minutes to an hour to perform. Most patients can return to their normal activities within days. The success rates of prostate brachytherapy have compared favorably with success rates of radical prostatectomy and external beam radiation. In comparison studies, prostate brachytherapy has shown to have a favorable side effect profile when compared with other modalities. Clinical studies have shown that prostate brachytherapy has a cure rate of 94% for appropriately selected patients.

Breast cancer radiation does not affect women's immune system

A new study shows that neither of two commonly used radiation treatments for early-stage, node-negative breast cancer has any effect on a woman's immune system, even though women who receive five-day partial-breast radiation therapy (MammoSite brachytherapy) (PBRT) have improved energy and quality of life compared to women who undergo six weeks of whole-breast radiation therapy (WBRT).

15 Oct 2007

Additional biopsy-scoring data may help determine prostate cancer prognosis

Men with certain scores and patterns based on prostate cancer biopsy were found to be at higher risk of PSA-failure, suggesting that this measurement could help predict the risk of prostate cancer recurrence, according to preliminary research published in the October 3 issue of JAMA.

3 Oct 2007

Vaginal brachytherapy improves quality of life after treatment for endometrial cancer

Quality of life after treatment for endometrial cancer can be significantly improved by the use of vaginal brachytherapy, where radiotherapy is delivered internally using a vaginal cylinder, the European Cancer Conference (ECCO 14).

25 Sep 2007

Internal radiotherapy better than external for quality of life in endometrial cancer patients

24 Sep 2007

Teal-time system plants 'seeds' against cancer

Radiation oncologists and urologists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia have begun using a real-time system to implant radiation-emitting seeds in prostate cancer patients.

24 Sep 2007

Stereotactic body radiation therapy reduces length of prostate cancer treatment

Breihan Bridgewater suffers from emphysema. He sleeps on his side because when he lays flat on his back it feels like there's a boulder resting on his chest.

20 Sep 2007

High dose rate brachytherapy treatment for prostate cancer

Up to 79% preservation of potency and less than 2% incontinence are the striking results of a clinical study in which over 300 men received an innovative treatment for prostate cancer.

29 Jun 2007

VCU to develop new form of radiation therapy

The National Cancer Institute has awarded a five-year, $10.7 million grant to Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers to develop a new form of radiation therapy that will enable the safe administration of more aggressive cancer treatments.

9 May 2007

New prostate cancer treatment wins award for Sloan-Kettering

The unique application of operations research to the treatment of prostate cancer allowed Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to better Fortune 500 companies last night and win an international competition for best project by an organization.

4 May 2007

Prostate cancer treatments impact on quality of life

A rigorous, long-term study of quality of life in patients who underwent one of the three most common treatments for prostate cancer found that each affected men's lives in different ways.

24 Apr 2007

Long-term study of prostate cancer treatments

A rigorous, long-term study of quality of life in patients who underwent one of the three most common treatments for prostate cancer found that each affected men's lives in different ways.

24 Apr 2007

Prostate brachytherapy causes fewer side effects than surgery

Men with prostate cancer have a slightly better long-term side effects profile with radiation seed implants than they do with surgery, according to a study released today in the International Journal for Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics, the official journal of ASTRO.

28 Feb 2007

Seed implants critical for achieving a better prostate cancer outcome

More than ninety percent of men who receive appropriate radiation dose levels with permanent radiation seed implants to treat their prostate cancer are cured of their cancer eight years after diagnosis, according to a study released in the February 1 issue of the International Journal for Radiation Oncology - Biology - Physics, the official journal of ASTRO.

31 Jan 2007

Radiation therapy combo cures prostate cancer long-term

Seventy-four percent of men treated with a combination of radiation seed implants and external beam radiation therapy for prostate cancer are cured of their disease 15 years following their treatment, according to a study released in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics, the official journal of ASTRO.

7 Jan 2007

BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois adds coverage for MammoSite

BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois after meeting with experts last week has decided to cover the partial-breast radiation therapy known as MammoSite for patients with early stage breast cancer, officials for the insurer said, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

20 Sep 2006

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois coverage policy for partial-breast radiation therapy to be reviewed

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois' policy that it does not cover partial-breast radiation therapy was scheduled to be reviewed last Wednesday in Dallas during a three-day meeting of Health Care Service Corporation officials, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

18 Sep 2006

Variances in patterns of care for patients with prostate cancer failing primary therapy

Variables that impact management of failed primary therapy for prostate cancer (CaP) are not well defined.

21 Aug 2006

Review identifies factors that influence patient treatment choice for localized prostate cancer

Variables that influence a patients' choice of treatment for localized prostate cancer (CaP) are identified in a literature review that is authored by Dr. Zeliadt and colleagues and appears in the on-line version of Cancer, 2006.

14 Jun 2006

Breast radiation device associated with complications

Doctors in New England have discovered that patients receiving accelerated-partial breast radiation therapy using a balloon brachytherapy system after lumpectomy for breast cancer can develop seroma, the retaining of fluid, in their breast which can require aspiration or make monitoring them by physical exam more difficult.

1 Jun 2006