New radiation treatment

Brachytherapy is the administration of radiation therapy directly into a tissue or a cavity.

The two most common types are the low dose rate (LDR) and high dose rate (HDR).

The centre previously offered the LDR Brachytherapy which required hospitalisation and patient immobilisation for several days to complete treatment. This new drug will treat and reduce the risk of the recurrence of different types of cancers, specifically gynaecological cases like cervical, endometrial and vaginal.

The equipment is automated, thus reducing radiation exposure to staff. This form of Brachytherapy offers advantages such as greater accuracy by using 3D planning over the traditional 2D planning.

Treatment times will be decreased to a few minutes versus a few hours, increasing patient comfort as treatments are faster and done on an outpatient basis over three to five sessions, instead of only inpatient treatment as previously offered with the LDR.

The patient waiting list will be reduced which can translate to improved survival outcomes for patients.