Partial Breast Irradiation Now Provided by Rocky Mountain Oncology Center

Partial breast irradiation can be offered following lumpectomy (removal of a mass from the breast with a margin of surrounding tissue) and represents an alternative for these patients because it can be delivered within a week rather than a traditional whole breast irradiation which requires six to eight weeks to be delivered.

A patient who meets the criteria for partial breast irradiation has a catheter placed in the breast either at the time of the initial lumpectomy or shortly thereafter. A radioactive source is placed inside the lumpectomy cavity in order to target the effected tissue immediately surrounding the site of the breast cancer where recurrence is most likely to occur. Treatment can generally be delivered twice-a-day for five days with each session lasting approximately 15 minutes. Most candidates experience excellent clinical and cosmetic outcomes.

Traditionally, patients with early-stage breast cancers are treated with either a full mastectomy (removal of the entire breast) or a lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy. However, many ofWyoming's patients live in remote locations or have serious time constraints, which in the past have caused them to opt for mastectomies to avoid lengthy treatments away from home. Fortunately, because of partial breast irradiation, these patients now have a viable treatment option.

Five-day targeted radiation therapy represents one of the latest cancer treatment advancements now available atWyoming's only free-standing comprehensive cancer center, Rocky Mountain Oncology, located inCasper, Wyoming.

    For more information visit us at www.rockymountainoncology.com

    Contact: Becky Sowers                  Janet Smith
             615-297-7717 ext 25           307-233-4738
             bsowers@lam-andrews.com       jsmith@rockymountainoncology.com

SOURCE Rocky Mountain Oncology Center

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