What Is Hdr Brachytherapy?

Cancer affects many people every year.

Cancer is a word that can strike fear into the strongest of minds. When a person is diagnosed with cancer, he begins to think of treatments, chemotherapy and radiation and how it will affect him and his family. HDR brachytherapy is a kind of cancer radiation treatment that is administered inside of the patient's body through implantation. This kind of cancer treatment allows the radiation treatment to be in a much closer proximity of the cancerous tumor.

Definition

Brachytherapy is an internal type of cancer treatment that allows for the radiation source to be inserted into a tumor or directly on top of a tumor, depending on the need. There are two types of brachytherapy. Low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy is meant to be a permanent treatment and the radiation sources are left in place for extended time frames. High-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy is a temporary radiation treatment and the amount of time that the radiation source is left in place is determined by the physician.

HDR vs. LDR

Due to the limitations of LDR brachytherapy, the HDR form of brachytherapy was developed. LDR brachytherapy offers little ability to move or reshape the radiation once it is inserted into a patient's body. However, due to the temporary manner of HDR and the tools used to place the radiation sources into the patient's body, it is possible to treat several sites and change the position of the radiation source as the tumor reacts and changes.

LDR brachytherapy is considered a permanent treatment option and once the implantation is made there is little that can be done besides complete removal if the source of radiation shifts and starts to emit radiation where it wasn't needed. Alternatively, HDR brachytherapy is completed within minutes and the radiation source is removed again. This eliminates the risk of the radiation source moving over time.

Effectiveness

HDR brachytherapy has proved to be effective in treating several forms of cancer, including prostate, breast, head, neck, and bile duct. Studies by CET's Cancer Center show a 90 percent successful remission rate of tumors. This study shows that HDR brachytherapy is an effective way to control cancerous tumors.

Treatment

Each HDR brachytherapy treatment is designed to meet the individual needs of the patient so the amount of time for each treatment will differ between patients. Treatments are administered in the operating room and the patient is placed under an anesthetic. The location where the treatment needs to be placed will determine if the anesthetic is a general anesthetic or a local one. The medical staff will clean and prepare the area where the HDR brachytherapy treatment will be inserted.

Needles and small catheter tubing is inserted at the sight of treatment and X-rays will be taken to ensure the needles are appropriately located. Once the physician is satisfied with the location of the catheters they are connected to the HDR machine and treatment begins. Treatment takes only a few minutes and then the catheters are removed. The entire treatment procedure usually lasts about two hours from the start of preparation to the patient leaving.

Advantages

HDR brachytherapy treatment allows a patient to have short courses of treatment. Internal organs are maintained and the function of the organs is less likely to be affected. HDR brachytherapy has few side effects and the amount of radiation being applied is known before treatment starts, resulting in the minimization of radiation overdosing.

References

• Northern Illinois Cancer Treatment Center: HDR Brachytherapy
• CET Cancer Center: Understanding High Dose Rate Brachytherapy