A study presented at this week's American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) meeting in Denver reported good results for accelerated partial-breast irradiation using balloon brachytherapy.
A multicenter group conducted a prospective study of 43 cancer patients who were treated with the MammoSite brachytherapy device (Cytyc, Marlborough, MA). Physicians using MammoSite insert a small balloon into the cavity created after a tumor is surgically removed from the breast. The balloon is then attached to a catheter to deliver high doses of radiation to the breast, reducing the amount of time required for postsurgery radiation therapy.
After following patients for a median time of 48 months from treatment, the researchers have found that none of the patients have experienced cancer recurrence, and their condition was reported as "good to excellent" in 80% of the study group. The patients will be followed for another six years to track the long-term effectiveness of the MammoSite treatment.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
October 19, 2005
Related Reading
Breast tumor surgical margin, histology should guide MammoSite use, September 13, 2005
Good short-term outcomes achieved with accelerated partial breast irradiation, September 2, 2005
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