The world of health is never at a loss for important, cutting-edge topics. So, we let four highly respected Valley doctors hold the writing reins, asking them to explain what they believe is a leading health care topic of the times. From e-medicine to stem cell transplants, here’s what they had to say.
Breast Brachytherapy Leading Cancer Treatment Revolution
Did you know that more than 4,000 women in Arizona will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year? With such a large population of both survivors and newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, quietly over the past several years, some of the most exciting research and clinical trials surrounding breast cancer treatment and technology have been taking place right here in Arizona—in our own backyard.
Among the most exciting has dealt with breast brachytherapy, which is a five-day radiation therapy alternative for women with early stage breast cancer. The procedure places radiation sources—usually tiny pellets the size of pencil lead—inside and adjacent to a cancer or inside an area that may contain residual cancer after surgical removal of the visible tumor mass. Using brachytherapy, doctors can reduce the radiation exposure to nearby normal tissues that do not need—and can be harmed by—the radiation.
The beauty of breast brachytherapy lies in the laws of physics. While very close to the radioactive seeds, the radiation intensity is very high; however, just millimeters away, the seeds’ radiation intensity decreases dramatically. This law of physics gives us a therapeutic advantage; if the seeds are precisely positioned in the tissues containing cancer cells, the normal tissues including the lungs, heart, ribs and skin can be avoided.
Another bonus—especially in a Silicon Valley like Scottsdale—breast brachytherapy can be used to treat women with breast implants as well. All too often, doctors recommend mastectomy for augmented women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, primarily because long courses of traditional radiation can harden implants. Since very little of the implant receives radiation exposure via brachytherapy, the scar tissue does not wrap around the silicone or saline implant, thus avoiding the shrinkage and hardening altogether—not to mention the long recovery process involved with a mastectomy.
Given the level of success of this treatment option, today I am proud to serve as co-principal investigator in the largest breast cancer radiation trial in medical history, squarely focused on breast brachytherapy. This trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, has now completed testing 4,300 women. Six-week whole breast radiation is compared head-to-head with our five-day breast brachytherapy.
We believe the results, once analyzed and presented in coming months, could inspire the biggest paradigm shift in how patients will be treated since Marie Curie herself discovered radium in 1896.
Dr. Robert Kuske is the original pioneer of breast brachytherapy treatment, a technique he invented in 1991. He is a partner at Arizona Breast Cancer Specialists and is providing radiation oncology services at its facility on Scottsdale Healthcare’s Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center campus.
