Brachytherapy

What is Brachytherapy?

Brachytherapy is a kind of radiation therapy. The harmful radiation is administered through a small object put inside the tumor; due to this it minimizes the damage of healthy tissue. Thus, this tumor has more narrow focus on the growth of tumor.

I want to tell you one very significant thing about Brachytherapy that it does not use any external radiation like other traditional radiation therapies. Due to this Brachytherapy may also be called internal radiation therapy and the other traditional radiation therapies are referred to as EBRT (External Beam Radiation Therapy).

In treating Mesothelioma or Lung cancer, brachytherapy is not used as a standard treatment! Although still the researchers are testing this way of treatment in clinical trials and from early studies it shows very promising and positive results to increase the life expectancy and minimize the harshness of the disease symptoms!  

When we look for effectiveness of brachytherapy, it plays a vital role in treating lung cancer. But the researchers found out more positive results in treating both cancers that are mesothelioma and lung cancer, when a patient goes through a treatment called permanent brachytherapy. In permanent brachytherapy a radioactive material is put inside the tumor and after few months of span it loses its radioactivity.

Want More Information about Brachytherapy?

By now we already know that brachytherapy is administered by placing a radioactive material, which is called implant. This radioactive material is may be in the form of seed (size of a grain of rice) or a wire.

The implant may be put during the surgery; this technique is called IORT (Intraoperative Radiation Therapy). Other than that, it can be injected into the cancer tissue via hollow tube. When this type of administration is used, a patient will receive general or local anesthesia and then doctors usually take the help of imaging scans like ultrasound and CT scan. As soon as the implant is placed inside the tumor, it attacks the cancer tissue in radius of 1cm. It can easily target the tumor inside, but accuracy is necessary.

Usually brachytherapy is implemented in the combination with other treatments. Moreover, IORT is always administered in conjunction with surgery.

The brachytherapy treatment can also used together with the traditional radiation treatment to attack the growth of tumor in various ways. Brachytherapy can be used as a curative treatment to get rid of mesothelioma cancer, but it largely depends upon the each patient’s condition and treatment. Not only this it can also used as palliative treatment to minimize the harsh symptoms of the disease like breathlessness and coughing, etc.

What are the side-effects of brachytherapy?

When comparing with external beam radiation therapy the side-effects of brachytherapy are quite minimal. Tenderness at the location of insertion is the most common side-effect that goes away within few months. Temporary swelling at the location of the treatment may also occur. While in EBRT, patient may experience nausea, irritation in skin and fatigue.

Now let me discuss the types of Brachytherapy!

Types of Brachytherapy

There are mainly two types of brachytherapy, which are low-dose rate brachytherapy and high-dose rate brachytherapy. Mesothelioma patients are usually treated with permanent brachytherapy; it is a kind of low-dose rate brachytherapy. In permanent brachytherapy it attacks the tumor with the radiation for several months.

The treatment can go up to several weeks depending upon which type of brachytherapy is used. Brachytherapy treatment time is much shorter than EBRT; EBRT takes about 2-10 weeks of treatment time.

Low- Dose Rate Brachytherapy

Low dose of radiation is given in LDR (Low-Dose Rate) for quite a long period of time. Radioactive material is placed for a week in the site. These radiations are very unsafe for the people in close proximity; therefore the patients that are receiving this treatment will be in hospital for the whole duration of the treatment. Moreover, these patients are not allowed to meet any guest and they are kept in private rooms. The good thing about LDR treatment is that it is not painful and uncomfortable.

High-Dose Rate Brachytherapy

High dose of radiation is given for not more than 20 minutes in HDR (High-Dose Rate). In HDR treatment, the patient may undergoes this treatment once or twice a day for a number of weeks. The patient can leave the hospital as soon as the doctor inserts the implant through hollow tube in the place. Like LDR, this treatment is also not painful and uncomfortable.

Study results of Brachytherapy

Only few tests of brachytherapy are being carried out for mesothelioma patients with varying results.

In 2005, 123 cases of pleural mesothelioma were treated with brachytherapy. Then, these patients went through pleurectomy/decortication. The conclusion of these tests was that with or without brachytherapy is not that much effective to stop the growth of mesothelioma tumor.

Brachytherapy is still expected to be one of most promising treatment of mesothelioma regardless of this study. The tests are still going on to prove its effectiveness on mesothelioma and we hope that it will come out as expected!