CALGARY- 20 early stage breast cancer patients will become the first Albertans to receive a new form of radiation therapy.
During breast brachytherapy, doctors deliver radiation by inserting 50 to 80 radioactive seeds, roughly the size of a grain of rice, directly into the breast.
“The seeds actually remain in the body permanently, the radiation that we put in has a half life of 17 days, so every 17 days the radiation is half of what it used to be,” explains Dr. Siraj Husain, a radiation oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.
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The procedure is best suited for patients who have undergone a lumpectomy to treat early stage, low risk breast cancer and is an alternative to the traditional treatment that uses an external radiation beam to eliminate remaining cancer cells over the course of several weeks.
“With the standard format, they’re coming here every day for anywhere from three and a half to six weeks,” says Husain. “With this they have one treatment, they’re done and they can go back to their normal life.”
In addition, patients experience fewer side effects including the skin irritation and organ damage associated with traditional forms of radiation therapies.
Last month, Doreen Thomson became the first patient to have the treatment in Alberta.
“It was done on a Tuesday and I was back to work Monday,” the 58-year-old recalls. “It’s been a bit painful but I’m healing nicely.”
Doctors plan to perform the procedure on a total of 20 low-risk patients as part of a national study. Only patients with tumours smaller than three centimeters who are considered low-risk qualify for the procedure.
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