BRACHYTHERAPY

INTRODUCTION:

Brachytherapy (brak-e-THER-uh-pee) is a procedure that involves placing radioactive material

inside your body. Brachytherapy is one type of radiation therapy that's used to treat cancer.
Brachytherapy is sometimes called internal radiation. Brachytherapy allows doctors to deliver
higher doses of radiation to more-specific areas of the body, compared with the conventional
form of radiation therapy (external beam radiation) that projects radiation from a machine
outside of your body.

INDICATIONS:

Brachytherapy is used to treat several types of cancer, including:

 Bile duct cancer

 Brain cancer
 Breast cancer
 Cervical cancer
 Endometrial cancer
 Esophageal cancer
 Eye cancer
 Head and neck cancers
 Lung cancer
 Pancreatic cancer
 Prostate cancer
 Rectal cancer
 Skin cancer
 Soft tissue cancers
 Vaginal cancer
TYPES OF BRACHYTHERAPY:

There are three types of brachytherapy:

1. High dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy

HDR (>12 Gy/h) brachytherapy is given over periods of 10 to 20 minutes. This is usually
performed as an outpatient procedure, although patients are sometimes admitted to hospital
for one to two days if they are receiving more than one session of treatment.

2. Low dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy

LDR (0.4-2 Gy/h) brachytherapy is administered at a continuous rate in sessions that can
last up to 50 hours.

3. PDR brachytherapy
Treatment can also be delivered in periodic pulses, referred to as pulsed dose-rate or
PDR. Here, the radiation is usually delivered once every hour rather than continuously.

Location of the implant

Some of the places in the body where a brachytherapy implant may be inserted include:

 Intracavitary brachytherapy - The radioactive source is inserted into a body cavity such as
the vagina or uterus
 Interstitial brachytherapy - The source is inserted into bodily tissues
 Intraluminal brachytherapy - The source is placed within an intraluminal space such as
the esophagus or trachea
 Surface (mould) brachytherapy - Radioactive moulds are attached to the surface of the
skin
 Intravascular brachytherapy - The source is placed within blood vessels
Nursing measures for caring of brachytherapy patients:
Before the Patient is Loaded

1. Place the lead shields by the patient’s bed.

2. Get a radiation badge to wear while caring for the patient. Write your name on
the badge and also indicate which one you are using on the form.

After the Patient is Loaded

1. Radiation safety will put a “Caution, Radioactive Materials” sign on the door
2. Put your badge on before entering the room. If you take care of the patient on
more than one day, use the same badge each time.
3. If a sealed source comes out of the catheter or fixture that is holding it in place
in the patient, immediately contact the Health Physicist on Call and Radiation
Oncology. Use tongs to pick up the source and place it in the lead
Container that has been left in the room.
4. After the radiation oncology physician removes the sources from the patient,
radiation safety will monitor to verify that the radiation sources are gone.
Radiation Safety will then remove the “Caution, Radioactive Materials” door
sign.