Brachytherapy benefits women with breast implants

Brachytherapy after lumpectomy may be an effective alternative to conventional treatments in women with early-stage breast cancer who have undergone breast augmentation, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America held Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 in Chicago.

Robert R. Kuske Jr., MD, of the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Scottsdale, and colleagues studied 65 women who received two daily treatments of high-dose rate Iridium-192 brachytherapy for 5 days.

After a median follow-up of 16 months, the researchers found that none of the women experienced tumor recurrence or capsular contracture, a common and painful side effect in women with breast implants who receive whole-breast radiation therapy after lumpectomy.

Kuske is a consultant for Nucletron and for Cianna Medical.

More information is available at http://rsna2008.rsna.org/.