St. Vincent's Adds MammoSite Radiation Therapy

The Bruno Cancer Center has continuously been on the leading edge of cancer treatment in Birmingham. Now, with the addition of MammoSite, St. Vincent's and the Bruno Cancer Center now offers a new treatment option for patients in the Birmingham area who are battling breast cancer.

MammoSite is an outpatient treatment option that offers patients with early-stage breast cancer a new option for radiation therapy. Traditionally, patients with early-stage breast cancer have effectively treated their cancer by with a combination of removing the cancerous tissue with a lumpectomy followed with seven weeks of whole-breast external radiation therapy that treats the whole breast. This standard treatment has effectively treated patients with early-stage breast cancer for some time, however, some patients have found the seven weeks of treatment difficult to schedule their lives around.

The MammoSite Radiation Therapy System is a form of partial breast irradiation that treats the tissue directly surrounding the removed tumor, the area where cancer is most likely to return, from inside the breast.

How does MammoSite work?
The MammoSite is a small balloon attached to a thin catheter. The MammoSite is inserted into the lumpectomy cavity (the space left inside the breast after the tumor is removed). During the radiation therapy sessions, a tiny radioactive source (seed) is placed within the MammoSite by a computer-controlled machine.

Because the MammoSite works from inside your breast, the radiation is delivered directly to the area of the breast where the cancer is most likely to recur. Treatment with the MammoSite Radiation Therapy System usually occurs twice a day for five days.

Because treatment option may vary from patient to patient, your physician may still feel that whole-breast external radiation therapy is the best option for treating your cancer.

Am I a candidate for treatment with MammoSite?
MammoSite is an appropriate treatment option for patients who have been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Following your lumpectomy, the physician staff at the Bruno Cancer Center will meet with you and determine if the MammoSite may be a right treatment option for you

What are the side effects of MammoSite?
Patients who have used MammoSite have experienced no more adverse affects from MammoSite than they would have by using traditional of whole-breast external radiation therapy. These side affects include redness, bruising, and breast pain, all common side affects of breast surgery and/or radiation therapy, and usually last for a short time.

How can I get more information about MammoSite?
For more information about MammoSite, please call St. Vincent's Bruno Cancer Center at (205) 939-7884. For a printable campus map, click here.

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