Advances in brachytherapy: new approaches to target breast cancer

Advances in breast brachytherapy techniques have led to the development of new approaches for treatment of patients with early-stage breast cancer. This article reviews the indications, clinical utility, and nursing interventions for the Mammosite Radiation Therapy System (Proxima Therapeutics, Alpharetta, GA) and INTRABEAM (Photoelectron Corporation, North Billerica, MA) radiation therapy system. Each uses a slightly different approach to provide definitive radiotherapy to the breast tumor bed following excision. Radiation oncology nurses should have an understanding of how each system works to provide optimal care as it pertains to education, side effect management, and catheter care for patients receiving each of these types of radiotherapy. These innovative alternatives will greatly reduce required treatment time if clinical studies find them to be equivocal or superior to traditional radiation therapy techniques. These treatment approaches also may make radiation treatments more convenient for women with early-stage breast cancer.