Sentences with phrase «multicatheter brachytherapy»

«Contrary to expectations, the more aggressive, combined treatment did not result in superior cancer control rates at five years follow - up, indicating that men can achieve a similar survival benefit with fewer late side effects through brachytherapy alone.»

At two years after treatment, more than 57 percent of men who had normal sexual function prior to treatment reported poor sexual function after surgery, compared with 27 percent who reported poor sexual function after external beam radiation, 34 percent after brachytherapy, and 25 percent after active surveillance.

Patients were randomized to one of two treatment arms, where 292 patients received brachytherapy alone (the B group) and 287 patients received 45 Gy partial EBT to the pelvic area in addition to brachytherapy (the EBT+B group).

They compared patients» self - reported quality of life related to bowel, urination, and sexual function across four strategies: active surveillance; prostatectomy; external beam radiotherapy; and brachytherapy.

If the disease requires treatment and isn't widespread, he will use focal brachytherapy — implanted radioactive seeds — to irradiate only the tumor, sparing the surrounding tissue.

NRG Oncology / RTOG 0232 is a phase III, multi-institutional trial conducted at 68 cancer centers throughout the U.S. and Canada from 2003 to 2012 to assess whether adding EBT to transperineal interstitial permanent brachytherapy conveyed an additional benefit in progression free survival (PFS), or control of the cancer growth, at five years following treatment.

«Intermediate risk prostate cancer may be well controlled with brachytherapy alone.»

External beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy caused more short - term urinary tract obstruction and irritation, while external beam radiotherapy was linked to more short - term bowel symptoms.

At five years following RT, survival rates for men who received brachytherapy alone were comparable to those who underwent more aggressive radiation treatment.

«The ideal next step,» Prof Morris will say, «would be to undertake randomised comparisons of LDR - PB boost against its principal alternatives — temporary high - dose - rate brachytherapy implants (HDR - PB) 3, stereotactic body radiation therapy using extreme hypofractionation4, and combined surgery and post-operative radiation therapy.

Presenting these results at the 3rd ESTRO Forum in Barcelona, Spain, today (Monday) Professor James Morris, from the Department of Radiation Oncology, Vancouver Cancer Centre, British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), Vancouver, Canada, will say that the ASCENDE - RT1 trial is the first and only existing trial comparing low - dose - rate prostate brachytherapy (LDR - PB) for the curative treatment of prostate cancer with any other method of radiation therapy delivery.

The authors focused on men newly diagnosed with localized (non-metastatic) prostate cancer in 1995 - 2011 and treated with radical prostatectomy, brachytherapy, radiation therapy, or primary androgen deprivation therapy (PADT).

Results from a randomised controlled trial to compare the use of permanent radioactive implants (brachytherapy) with dose - escalated external beam radiotherapy in patients with prostate cancer show that the men who received brachytherapy were twice as likely to be cancer - free five years later.

Brachytherapy is an extremely efficient and safe radiation oncology modality, and this trial shows that it can have a wider field of applicability than simply in very localised and low risk tumours when combined with other techniques — in this case, androgen deprivation therapy and external bean radiation therapy.»

OC - 0485: «LDR Brachytherapy is Superior to 78 Gy of EBRT for Unfavourable Risk Prostate Cancer: The Results of a Randomized Trial,» Highest scoring 3rd ESTRO Forum abstracts session at 11.50 hrs (CEST) on Monday, 27 April, Main Auditorium.

After accounting for the costs and time involved, the researchers found that Medicare reimburses four times more per minute required for a less effective alternative than it does for brachytherapy.

«As the technology and use of HDR brachytherapy advances, it is imperative that clinical, physics and quality assurance guidance be reviewed and updated, as necessary, to ensure quality and patient safety in the treatment delivery,» said Bruce R. Thomadsen, PhD, a professor in the Department of Medical Physics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

The problem stems partly from the amount of physician time brachytherapy requires: It takes 80 + percent more personnel time to administer brachytherapy than it does to deliver the increasingly popular alternative, external beam radiation.

A study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) found that brachytherapy treatment was associated with better cause - specific survival and overall survival in women with cervical cancer.

«A gold - standard cancer treatment is in decline, and money may be why: Brachytherapy for cervical cancer a net loss for hospitals, study finds.»

The evidence is clear: Cervical cancer is best treated with brachytherapy, a form of radiation therapy.

This can leave hospitals — particularly smaller hospitals that don't do a lot of brachytherapy — in the lurch.

«At UVA, we are particularly proud of our brachytherapy program and delivering quality brachytherapy is a top priority for us,» he said.

«Studies have time and time again shown that brachytherapy is the most important part of cervical cancer treatment, because it is essential to eradicating the tumor,» said Timothy Showalter, MD, a radiation oncologist at UVA Cancer Center.

He noted that healthcare providers face a cold, hard truth when deciding whether to offer brachytherapy, or any other treatment: «If practices don't run at least a profit greater than zero,» he said, «then they fold.»

The six benchmarks are: 1) HDR brachytherapy procedures are supported with the appropriate team as described in the report of the AAPM TG 59 and the American College of Radiology HDR Brachytherapy Practice Standard; 2) commissioning of the treatment unit, treatment planning system and each new source is performed by a qualified medical physicist and verified through a QA process; 3) assay of the HDR brachytherapy unit source is performed using a well - type ionization chamber with a calibration traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and this assay is performed or confirmed for each source change.

«This white paper affirms that HDR brachytherapy is a safe treatment option when current process guidance is followed and appropriate clinical decisions are made based on clinical guidance provided in white papers such as this.»

Factors associated with higher odds of brachytherapy use included younger age, being married, earlier years of diagnosis, earlier stage and certain SEER regions.

«Despite higher survival, brachytherapy to treat cervical cancer declines in US.»

He expressed grave concern about the declining use of brachytherapy: «It's disturbing because we have this great treatment option that's an absolute requirement of curative therapy, and it's been available for decades, but the rates of actually using it are dropping,» Showalter said.

«A decline in brachytherapy utilization is associated with a higher rate of mortality in cervical cancer, so there's a direct relationship.»

«The shift away from brachytherapy is concerning, and has directly lowered the survival rates of cervical cancer patients,» said Akila Viswanathan, MD, MPH, director of BWH Gynecologic Radiation Oncology, senior study author.

«I can certainly imagine how the comparatively poor reimbursement rates compared to external beam radiation could contribute in some environments to not establishing a service for brachytherapy or just not committing physician time to it.»

Another key difference, the researchers found: Medicare reimbursement makes external beam radiation profitable, while brachytherapy is not.

The white paper recommends that practitioners follow relevant guidance documents and that deviation from consensus recommendations should be supported by clinical studies or pursued in the setting of a clinical trial approved by an institutional review board; that practitioners receive training in a new procedure before beginning its practice, that the training should include a practical, «hands - on» component and that all team members directly involved with the radiation therapy decisions should participate in at least five proctored cases before performing similar procedures independently; and that professional societies should accelerate the generation of new or updated guidance documents for the following disease sites and techniques: skin, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, lung or endobronchial and esophagus, and, while outside the charge of this panel, assess the need for updated guidance documents for accelerated partial breast irradiation using electronic brachytherapy.

«Brachytherapy requires a lot of physician effort and expertise and reimburses poorly for that effort,» Showalter said.

Moreover, brachytherapy usage rate decreased from 83 percent in 1988 to 58 percent in 2009.

In terms of patient survival, brachytherapy was associated with a higher four - year cause - specific survival (64.3 percent vs. 51.5 percent) and overall survival (58.2 percent vs. 46.2 percent) compared to EBRT alone.

Of the 7,359 patients identified, the researchers found that 63 percent of these women received brachytherapy in combination with EBRT, and 37 percent received EBRT alone.

Due to the multidisciplinary nature of HDR brachytherapy treatment, the modality requires coordination among several clinicians to treat the patient accurately and safely.

Commissioned by ASTRO's Board of Directors as part of the Target Safely campaign, the white paper evaluates the current safety and practice guidance for HDR brachytherapy, makes recommendations for guidance applications to the delivery of HDR brachytherapy, suggests topics where additional guidance is needed and examines the adequacy of general physics, quality assurance (QA) and clinical guidance currently available for the most common treatment sites with regard to patient safety.

«My job specifically involves brachytherapy,» Showalter said.

«High - quality brachytherapy must continue to be used, ideally with image - guidance, to maximize survival and minimize toxicity.»

UVA researchers have determined that offering brachytherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer ends up costing hospitals money.

The standard treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer is EBRT with concurrent chemotherapy, followed by brachytherapy.

Both methods deliver radiation to the tumor, but brachytherapy delivers much greater doses in a much more targeted manner.

Moores Cancer Center is one of the nation's first medical facilities to offer the SAVI ™ breast brachytherapy applicator.

Interstitial brachytherapy, or the implantation of tiny radioactive seeds into brain or spinal tumors.

The department also has active brachytherapy and TBI programs.

I initiated the Stereotactic Radiosurgery and brachytherapy programs at RWJ Somerset.