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Benefits


What are the potential benefits of brachytherapy?

Brachytherapy is a very effective and highly convenient treatment for skin cancer.

  • Highly effective in preventing skin cancer from returning:
    • Long-term studies show that the vast majority of patients continue to remain free of skin cancer after receiving brachytherapy treatment.1-3
    • Brachytherapy is equally as effective as external beam radiotherapy (EBRT).1,3

  • Highly targeted radiotherapy: Brachytherapy places the radiation directly at the treatment site. Brachytherapy therefore prevents surrounding healthy tissues from being exposed to unnecessary radiation.1

  • Excellent cosmetic results: In cases that are difficult to treat with surgery or would otherwise require reconstructive surgery to maintain the natural appearance of the skin, brachytherapy provides an effective alternative. Brachytherapy does not cause any long-term disfiguring scarring.1-3

  • Minimized side effects: As brachytherapy is highly targeted to just the treatment site, it is usually well tolerated by patients. Long-term side effects are very uncommon.1-3

  • Short treatment time: Radiotherapy using brachytherapy can be completed much more quickly than EBRT (less than 1 week compared to 4–6 weeks). Patients usually recover from brachytherapy more quickly than they do surgery.1-3

  • Convenience: Brachytherapy requires fewer visits to the hospital than EBRT2-3 – treatment can sometimes be completed in just one visit.

References

  1. Guix B, Fiestres F, tello J, et al. Treatment of skin carcinomas of the face by high-dose-rate brachytherapy and custom-made surface molds. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2000;47(1):95-102.
  2. Sedda AF, Rossi G, Cipriani C, et al. Dermatological high-dose-rate brachytherapy for the treatment of basal and squamous cell carcinoma. Clin Exp Dermatol 2008;33(6):745-9.
  3. Rio E, Bardet E, Ferron C, et al. Interstitial brachytherapy of periorifical skin carcinomas of the face: A retrospective study of 97 cases. In J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2005;63:753-757.

Page last updated on 19 April 2011.

Skin cancer

 

Cancer types

 



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