Faster Treatment, Fewer Side Effects Are Benefits of High-Dose Radiation
Updated April 2003 — Memorial Healthcare System has a new weapon in its cancer-fighting arsenal.
High-dose radiation (HDR) brachytherapy is a specialized service that physicians are using to treat patients with lung or prostate cancer. Eventually, it might also be used on some colon, gynecological, esophageal and other cancers.
"Many cancers that we now treat with low-dose radiation could instead be treated with high-dose radiation," says Srinath Sundararaman, MD, radiation oncologist on the medical staff at Memorial Regional Hospital, Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, Memorial Hospital West and Memorial Hospital Pembroke.
Get Closer
The prefix "brachy-" means "short," and brachytherapy is delivered from a short distance. For example, brachy-therapy to treat lung cancer is conducted via catheter so physicians can get as close as possible to the problem area and minimize damage to healthy tissue. Radiation oncologists, fellowship-trained in brachytherapy, perform the procedure. Potential benefits for the patient include:
- Fewer treatments
- Less severe side effects
- Increased effectiveness of radiation
HDR brachytherapy can also significantly reduce the length of the treatment regimen. For some patients, procedures might even be done on an outpatient basis.
"To treat a gynecologic cancer with HDR brachytherapy, we used to admit the patient for a two- to four-day stay," Dr. Sundararaman says. "This procedure could mean that patients will be seen on an outpatient basis for five or six sessions lasting 15 to 20 minutes each."
HDR brachytherapy can also be used to treat breast cancer following removal of a tumor. For certain breast cancer patients, HDR brachytherapy can reduce the duration of radiation treatment to as little as five days.
First Steps
Memorial performed its first HDR brachytherapy procedure in January. Its effective-ness on an individual patient cannot be determined for months. And it could take years to determine the overall success rates of high-dose radiation brachytherapy.
Dr. Sundararaman, however, is optimistic. "This is a very precise procedure," he says. "For some cancers, it has the potential to be the best treatment."