The MammoSite radiation therapy system is a novel technique for treatment of patients with early-stage breast cancer. It was developed to overcome the longer schedules associated with external-beam radiation therapy. It consists of a small balloon (4 cm in diameter) connected to an inflation channel and a catheter for the passage of a high dose rate 192Ir brachytherapy source. The device is pla...

Current treatment planning systems (TPSs) for partial breast irradiation using the MammoSite brachytherapy applicator (Cytyc Corporation, Marlborough, MA) often neglect the effect of inhomogeneity, leading to potential inaccuracies in dose distributions. Previous publications either have studied only a planar dose perturbation along the bisector of the source or have paid little attention to th...

BACKGROUND Accelerated partial breast irradiation via interstitial balloon brachytherapy is a fast and effective treatment method for certain early stage breast cancers however skin, chest wall and Lung doses are correlated with toxicity in patients treated with breast brachytherapy. OBJECTIVE To investigate the percentage of the dose received by critical organ (skin), thermoluminescence dete...

For women undergoing breast-conserving surgery, recent reports suggest that in selected cases accelerated partial breast irradiation may yield results equal to that of whole breast irradiation. Over 31 months, 19 patients underwent accelerated partial breast irradiation using the MammoSite as the sole radiation treatment following breast-conserving surgery. Seventeen patients had the MammoSite ...

This work compares two accelerated partial breast irradiation modalities, MammoSite brachytherapy and three dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT), to a new method, SAVI brachytherapy, following NSABP B-39 guidelines. A total of 21 patients treated at UC San Diego with the SAVI device were evaluated in this comparison. 9 of the 21 patients were eligible for all three modalities and were do...

Background: Accelerated partial breast irradiation via interstitial balloon brachytherapy is a fast and effective treatment method for certain early stage breast cancers however skin, chest wall and Lung doses are correlated with toxicity in patients treated with breast brachytherapy.Objective: To investigate the percentage of the dose received by critical organ (skin), thermoluminescence detec...

PURPOSE To present a retrospective multi-institutional experience of patients treated with the MammoSite radiation therapy system (RTS). METHODS AND MATERIALS Nine institutions participated in a pooled analysis of data evaluating the clinical experience of the MammoSite RTS for delivering accelerated partial breast irradiation. Between 2000 and 2004, 483 patients were treated with the MammoSi...

background: accelerated partial breast irradiation via interstitial balloon brachytherapy is a fast and effective treatment method for certain early stage breast cancers however skin, chest wall and lung doses are correlated with toxicity in patients treated with breast brachytherapy. objective: to investigate the percentage of the dose received by critical organ (skin), thermoluminescence dete...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To elaborate a method for applicator reconstruction for MRI-based brachytherapy for cervical cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Custom-made plastic catheters with a copper sulphate solution were made for insertion in the source channels of MR-CT compatible applicators: plastic and titanium tandem ring applicators, and titanium needles. The applicators were CT and MR scanned ...