Brachytherapy Cancer Treatment

Brachytherapy is a radiation treatment option that involves the placement of small radioactive seeds inside or close to tumors.  These radioactive seeds can be either temporary or permanent.  Brachytherapy is a sophisticated procedure that delivers highly localized radiation into tumors while minimizing radiation exposure to nearby normal tissues.  Brachytherapy is commonly used for treatment of gynecologic, prostate, and breast cancers, but it can also be utilized to treat superficial tumors like skin cancers. Brachytherapy commonly requires procedures for placement of these seeds, and patients can read more about what to expect here.

Innovative Applications at UVA
UVA is one of a very few institutions that has a CT on rails in a full anesthesia capable brachytherapy suite.  This technology allows us to treat complicated cases in our radiation department, eliminating the need to travel to distant operating rooms.  Our physicians and physicists are world-renowned and are leaders in the brachytherapy community.  We have multiple clinical trials on brachytherapy, including innovative treatments for breast, gynecologic, and prostate cancers.  Read more about some of the innovative research being done at UVA with brachytherapy.

Publications

• CT-on-rails-guided HDR brachytherapy: single-room, rapid-workflow treatment delivery with integrated image guidance

• Dose differentiated high-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy: a feasibility assessment of MRI-guided dose escalation to dominant intra-prostatic lesions

• A comparative study using time-driven activity-based costing in single-fraction breast high-dose rate brachytherapy: An integrated brachytherapy suite vs. decentralized workflow

• Implementation of an HDR brachytherapy-based breast IORT program: Initial experiences

• Toxicity and cosmetic outcomes after treatment with a novel form of breast IORT

• Hypofractionated Postprostatectomy Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer to Reduce Toxicity and Improve Patient Convenience: A Phase 1/2 Trial

• Re-implantation of suboptimal prostate seed implantation: technique with intraoperative treatment planning

• Time-driven activity-based costing of adjuvant vaginal cuff brachytherapy for uterine cancer in an integrated brachytherapy suite

• High dose-rate tandem and ovoid brachytherapy in cervical cancer: dosimetric predictors of adverse events

• Integration of MRI target delineation into rapid workflow cervical cancer brachytherapy: Impact on clinical outcomes