Brachytherapy Planning

Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy used to treat cancer. Unlike external beam radiation, which uses a machine to aim high energy rays at the cancer from outside the body, brachytherapy involves administering radiation from inside the body. This allows the radiation to be delivered right to the tumor, since the radioactive material is inside the body. Higher doses of radiation can thus be used, and there is less damage to surrounding organs and tissue since the therapy can be targeted more specifically at the cancer cells.

Decision to Administer Brachytherapy

• The first stage in the planning process is making the decision that brachytherapy is the appropriate method of treating the cancer. Brachytherapy has been successfully used for breast cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, cancer of the head and neck, skin cancer, uterine cancer, cancer of the gallbladder, vaginal cancer, rectal cancer, optic cancer and lung cancer.

  Your medical team will usually make the decision together to use brachytherapy. Typically, a radiologist, oncologist, medical radiation physicist, dosimetrist (person who calculates dosage) and surgeon are involved in the decision to use brachytherapy.

The Procedure

• The procedure differs depending on the type of brachytherapy administered. Brachytherapy can be permanent or temporary. If it is temporary, radioactive material is inserted for a set period of time and then removed. If it is permanent, radioactive material is inserted permanently. This radioactive material usually comes in the form of seeds or pellets.

  Even with permanent radiation, eventually the seeds or pellets become less radioactive, until there is no more radiation being administered. The seeds or pellets just stay in your body after they are no longer radioactive, instead of being removed. This means you only have to have one procedure (insertion of the seeds) instead of two (insertion and removal of the radioactive material).

  The radioactive material, whether permanent or temporary, is inserted into the body using a specific insertion device. This may be a needle, a catheter or some other type of applicator.

Preparing

• Preparation depends on the type of procedure you are having and where the radioactive material is being inserted. You may have to empty your bowels or fast before the procedure. You may have to have blood tests, MRIs, CAT scans X-rays and other tests done to determine where the material will be inserted.

  You may be given anesthesia or sedatives during the procedure itself in order to minimize discomfort. You may have to stay in the hospital for a day or so after the procedure.

  When you go home, you may be told to minimize contact with children, pregnant women or elderly people who are susceptible to radiation poisoning.