Brachytherapy is a type of radiation therapy in which radioactive material sealed in needles, seeds, wires, or catheters is placed directly into or near a tumor. Also called implant radiation therapy, internal radiation therapy, and radiation brachytherapy. There is two types of Treatment using brachytherapy: 1) a low dose rate (LDR) Brachytherapy AND 2) a high dose rate (HDR) Brachytherapy
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LDR brachytherapy
Radioactive seed implants are made of radioactive material sealed in a titanium capsule, then loaded in sterilized needles for the implant procedure. It is commonly used to treat prostate cancer, but it has been used to treat breast cancer and many other forms of the disease. The seeds are made biologically inert and sterilized before the procedure so they present no harm to the patients.
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Treatment of Prostate Cancer
For prostate cancer treatment, radioactive seeds known as iodine-125 or simply I-125, are implanted into the prostate gland using ultrasound guidance. The size of each seed is roughly equivalent to the size of small grain of rice. The number of seeds needed for a given procedure as well as the location where they should be placed within the tumor is determined by a computer-generated treatment plan personalized for each patient based on the patient imaging results.
Typical size of Seed implant
Typical needles used in the implant procedure
Watch a video about the advantages of Brachytherapy for prostate
Watch a video mimicking the prostate implant procedure​
Treatment of Breast Cancer
For Breast cancer treatment, radioactive micro-seeds known as palladium 103 or simply Pd-103, are implanted in and around the bed of the tumor after lumpectomy. The procedure is performed under ultrasound guidance. Similarly to the case of prostate procedure, the treatment plan for breast implants is computer generated in a personalized manner for each patient using the patient imaging results.
Watch a video outlining the breast micro-seed implant procedure and benefits
2. HDR brachytherapy
HDR Brachytherapy is a radiation therapy treatment for cancer that involves the placement of a radioactive material, usually either cobalt 60 (CO-60) or Iridium 192 (Ir-192), directly inside the body, in or near a tumor, for a specific amount of time and then withdrawn. In HDR brachytherapy, a high dose of radiation is delivered to the tumor in a short burst, lasting only a few minutes. This treatment may be repeated several times in a day or a number of times over one or more weeks. HDR brachytherapy can be used to treat GYN cancers as well as Breast and Prostate cancer.
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Though this treatment is not yet available in our clinic, We are working towards making it available for our patients