Low recurrence rate of breast cancer seen with brachytherapy NEW ORLEANS (Reuters Health) - Accelerated partial breast irradiation with brachytherapy yields a lower recurrence rate and spares much more of the breast and surrounding tissues than does external beam radiation, one of the leading developers of the technique told attendees of the annual meeting of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology here last week. Dr. Robert R. Kuske of the University of Wisconsin at Madison presented 10-year follow-up data on the more than 300 women with breast cancer that he has treated with brachytherapy following lumpectomy since 1991. There have been only three recurrences in the group during that time, he told Reuters Health. "If you combine my data with [those of others performing brachytherapy], more than 500 women have been treated with 8 recurrences," he reported. There is less acute toxicity with brachytherapy compared with external beam radiation for breast cancer because less radiation is delivered to the skin and surrounding tissue, Dr. Kuske noted. Late toxicity is about the same as with external beam radiation. Brachytherapy involves the insertion of multiple catheters into the site of a lumpectomy, through which high dose Iridium-192 is delivered. The procedure takes 4 to 5 days compared with 6 weeks with conventional external beam radiation. "A lot of people thought it would be more toxic than external beam [radiation] because it is an invasive procedure," he noted, but "brachytherapy is delivered only to the tumor site. It spares healthy breast tissue and the underlying lung." Dr. Kuske pointed out that with brachytherapy, "there is no delay in the delivery of chemotherapy," since the procedure requires only 4 to 5 days. There is an 8-week delay in chemotherapy if external beam radiation is given first and there is typically a 3.5-month delay in external beam radiation if it is given after chemotherapy, he noted. Brachytherapy is appropriate for tumors up to 3 cm in diameter with negative margins and nodes that are negative or positive nodes of minimal size, Dr. Kuske said. "We're talking about a paradigm shift here," Dr. Kuske declared. "It is appropriate to treat only part of the breast. We don't need to treat every piece of tissue...And the treatment only lasts 4 to 5 days." Nucleotron Corp.'s (Veenendaal, The Netherlands) Kuske Breast Template, a device that allows for more precise dosimetry, received FDA approval on October 7th. Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. Thanks to MySource Newsletter. Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.