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Review
. 2018 Jul;13(3):157-161.
doi: 10.1159/000489638. Epub 2018 May 29.

The Role of Brachytherapy in the Treatment of Breast Cancer

Daniela Kauer-Dorner  1 , Daniel Berger  1
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Brachytherapy in the Treatment of Breast Cancer

Daniela Kauer-Dorner et al. Breast Care (Basel). 2018 Jul.

Abstract

Radiotherapy plays an important part in the management of breast cancer. Especially after breast-conserving surgery, external whole breast irradiation, occasionally with an additional local boost, is an integral part of breast conservation. Besides external radiation techniques, brachytherapy (BT) has long been among the treatment options, especially with regard to local boost application. With the emerging implementation of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI), BT in general and interstitial multi-catheter BT in particular, are gaining an increasing role in the management of a selected group of early breast cancer patients. APBI is an approach to reduce the irradiated area to the former tumor bed rather than treating the whole breast tissue in patients with a low baseline local recurrence risk. After a variety of phase I-III clinical studies, it is clearly evident that APBI will play a role in the treatment of this selected patient group. In this review, we focus on the clinical development and different available techniques of breast BT and provide a preview of prospects for its use.

Keywords: Boost therapy; Brachytherapy; Breast cancer; Partial breast irradiation.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Development from a X-ray-based catheter visualization to b computed tomography-based brachytherapy planning and c dose distribution in an APBI (accelerated partial breast irradiation) patient.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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