Research News
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Older Women Have More Complications from Brachytherapy Compared to Whole-Breast Radiation
A study suggests that older women who have brachytherapy are more likely to have complications in the year after treatment compared to women who had whole-breast irradiation.
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Brachytherapy More Likely to Cause Complications, Need for Mastectomy in Older Women
A study found that women who had brachytherapy after lumpectomy were more likely to have treatment complications and more likely to need a mastectomy in the 5 years after surgery compared to women who had whole-breast irradiation after lumpectomy.
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Many Women Treated with Brachytherapy Aren’t Good Candidates
A large study has found that many women treated with brachytherapy were not good candidates for that form of radiation therapy based on the characteristics of the breast cancer with which they were diagnosed.
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Brachytherapy May Not Be as Effective as Whole-Breast Radiation in Reducing Recurrence Risk
Results from a large study suggest that brachytherapy may not be as effective as whole-breast radiation therapy at preventing breast cancer recurrence.
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Side Effects Minimal for One Type of Partial-Breast Radiation
Early results suggest that the number and severity of side effects from 3-D conformal external beam radiation, a type of partial-breast irradiation, are low.
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Brachytherapy Use Increases, Researchers Concerned About Lack of Evidence
A new study found that use of brachytherapy (internal radiation therapy) has been increasing steadily since 2002 even though there aren't many long-term studies that show brachytherapy works as well as traditional radiation therapy.
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Three Types of Partial Breast Irradiation Have Similar Outcomes
Research shows that three alternatives to traditional external beam radiation therapy are all equally effective at lowering the risk of recurrence and offer the same benefits as traditional radiation therapy.
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Higher Risk of Local Recurrence with Partial-Breast Irradiation
Research comparing partial-breast irradiation to whole-breast irradiation found no differences in survival or the risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of the body; still, there was a difference in the risk of the cancer coming back in the same breast or the lymph nodes near the same breast.
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Brachytherapy Seems OK for Early-Stage Disease in Women with Implants
In a small study, internal radiation after lumpectomy didn't cause the capsules of existing breast implants to contract, leading to good cosmetic results.
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MammoSite System Seems Just as Good as Whole Breast Radiation
Women who got internal partial-breast irradiation with the MammoSite system, also known as brachytherapy, had the same outcomes as women who got traditional external radiation therapy in the 3 to 4 years after lumpectomy to treat early-stage breast cancer.
