Brachytherapy a Fast Treatment for Breast Cancer

A study has demonstrated that brachytherapy for women with early-stage breast cancer can reduce treatment time to as little as five days, which is at least as effective as five weeks of standard radiation treatments. Conducted by researchers at Beaumont Hospital (Royal Oak, MI, USA), the study was reported in the April 2001 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The researchers compared the records of 174 women treated for early-stage breast cancer with brachytherapy for five days with those of women treated with external-beam radiation therapy for five weeks, over the period 1993 through January 2000. The results at a five-year follow-up were almost the same for both groups: 93% survival for brachytherapy patients and 90% for standard radiation patients, with no cancer found in 91% of the first group and 87% of the second group. These results make it possible for women to choose lumpectomy over breast removal for early-stage disease, especially women who have to travel long distances for radiation treatment and women with work or family commitments.

Dr. Frank Vicini, who led the study, noted that the brachytherapy involves placement of a catheter in the breast during lumpectomy but results in less skin reddening and perhaps less fatigue than standard radiation. He believes a longer study would be needed to determine whether brachytherapy might be better than standard radiation.




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