According to the American Brachytherapy Society, brachytherapy is frequently an outpatient treatment for various forms of cancer in which radioactive seeds are positioned inside the body in or near the cancerous tissue. Prostate cancer, cervical cancer and breast cancer are some of the diseases that doctors treat using brachytherapy. The treatment is safe and effective and it limits the exposure of healthy tissue to the side effects of radiation therapy.
Prostate Brachytherapy
Brachytherapy is a treatment option for prostate cancer patients whose cancer is confined to the prostate gland. Performing a minimally invasive outpatient procedure, a doctor places radioactive seeds of iodine 125 or palladium 103 into the prostate gland where they remain permanently, explains the Prostate Cancer Institute. The seeds are contained within needles that the doctor, guided by an ultrasound picture, inserts through the perineum, which is the space between the scrotum and the anus. Patients usually get spinal anesthesia before the start of the procedure. The seeds emit radiation to destroy the cancer cells over the course of several months. Recovery time is normally only one or two days, and side effects may include a burning sensation during urination or ejaculation, urinary frequency and difficulty with urination that may last for a few weeks.
Intracavitary Brachytherapy for Breast Cancer
According to the American Cancer Society, intracavitary brachytherapy is a treatment in which a doctor places a deflated balloon attached to a catheter inside the breast in the space left after a lumpectomy. A part of the catheter remains outside the breast extending through a short incision, and the balloon and catheter remain in place throughout the entire 5-day outpatient treatment regimen. The patient's doctor fills the balloon with salt water and a machine inserts a source of radioactivity into the balloon using the catheter. After a certain period of time, the radioactivity source is removed. Later on the same day, the radioactivity source is inserted into the balloon a second time and then removed. When all ten treatments are completed, the doctor drains and removes the balloon along with the catheter.
Brachytherapy for Cervical Cancer
When cervical cancer patients undergo brachytherapy treatment, a doctor places applicator tubes into the vagina near the cervix after the patient has been given a short-acting anesthetic, according to Macmillan Cancer Support. These applicator tubes hold the source of radiation during the therapy. Low dose rate brachytherapy is an inpatient procedure that requires a few days to complete. In this process, a machine sends small spheres of radioactive cesium into the applicator tubes, and they remain in place for one or two days. In high dose rate brachytherapy, radioactive cobalt or iridium goes into the applicator tubes, and a high dose of radioactivity is delivered over a few minutes. It may be necessary to repeat the high dose rate treatment several times with a few days in between treatments. This process may be an inpatient or an outpatient therapy.
