Radiation Seed Implants for Breast Cancer

Canadian researchers are evaluating the effectiveness of permanent radiation seed implants following lumpectomy as an alternative to whole or partial breast irradiation for early-stage breast cancer patients, according to a new study. This kind of radiation would decrease treatment time for certain patients from several weeks to one day.

For early stage breast cancer, women frequently undergo a lumpectomy to remove the tumor followed by radiation therapy to destroy any cancer cells that may remain. Most women undergo external beam radiation, which is given daily, Monday through Friday, for six to eight weeks.

Clinicians have been exploring ways to decrease the treatment times. One technique used by a growing number of radiation oncologists involves the use of temporary radiation implants. These radiation sources are delivered through a catheter into the breast, typically twice a day for one week.

In this study, published in the January 1, 2006, issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, clinicians wanted to see if it was possible to use permanent implants, similar to what many men receive to treat prostate cancer, to fight the cancer with only one treatment. These implants, approximately the size of a grain of rice, would not be removed daily, which is the case with the temporary implants. Instead, the radioactive seeds would deliver radiation to the breast region for a number of weeks until they were no longer radioactive. The advantage over the temporary implants is that the patient only has to undergo one surgical procedure to receive the radiation, versus 10 treatments over one week for temporary implants.

The current standard of treating lumpectomy followed by external beam radiation therapy has been shown to keep the cancer from recurring; however, 38% of women develop considerable toxicity, which can compromise their quality of life. According to early findings of the study, which started in May 2004, 44 patients have been effectively treated with the permanent implants. Up to now, none have evidence of their cancer returning and acute skin irritation is six times less frequent when compared to external beam radiation.

"The main motivation was to see if we could reduce the burden of treatment for women suffering from early-stage breast cancer,” stated Jean-Philippe Pignol, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and radiation oncologist at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).



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Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre