Brachytherapy Places Radioactive Material Inside the Body
Writer: Mayo Clinic Staff
Source: Mayo Clinic
Brachytherapy (brak-e-THER-uh-pee) is a procedure used to treat certain types of cancer and other conditions. It involves placing radioactive material inside the body. This is sometimes called internal radiation.
Another type of radiation, called external radiation, is more common than brachytherapy. During external radiation, a machine moves around you and directs beams of radiation to specific points on the body.
Brachytherapy allows your health care team to use higher doses of radiation than would be possible with external radiation. This is because brachytherapy delivers radiation directly to the treatment area. This lowers the risk of hurting healthy tissue that is nearby.
The overall treatment time can be shorter with brachytherapy because a larger dose of radiation can be safely delivered at one time.
Why it's done
- Brain cancer
- Breast cancer
- Cervical cancer
- Endometrial cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- Eye cancer
- Gallbladder cancer
- Head and neck cancer
- Lung cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Rectal cancer
- Skin cancer
- Soft tissue sarcomas
- Vaginal cancer
Brachytherapy is most often used to treat cancer. Sometimes it's used to treat other conditions, such as heart problems, in certain situations.
When it's used to treat cancer, brachytherapy can be used alone or with other cancer treatments. For example, brachytherapy is sometimes used after surgery. With this approach, the radiation is used to destroy any cancer cells that may remain. Brachytherapy also can be used with external radiation.
Risks
Side effects of brachytherapy are specific to the area being treated. Because brachytherapy focuses radiation in a small treatment area, only that area is affected.
You might have tenderness and swelling in the treatment area. Ask your health care provider what other side effects to expect.
