Hello
I am wondering if anybody had or knows about Brachy Therapy. Was it a good procedure? what were the side effects? do you recommend it?

thank you
Mary

Link: Brachytherapy

Dear Dr Joshi
thank you for the link about Brachytherapy, but it doesn't say how effective this procedure is. Are there any studies that say that out of X number of people X number of patients had their cancer shrink or disappear? is it an effective procedure? the link doesn't say this kind of information.

thank you
Mary

Excellent local control rates of interstitial brachytherapy in oral cavity cancer and oropharyngeal carcinoma have been demonstrated in different retrospective studies. Compared to external-beam radiation therapy the high local control rates with a low rate of side effects obtained by interstitial brachytherapy are the result of a steep dose reduction in the implant-surrounding normal tissues. Therefore, interstitial brachytherapy offers rather the possibility to give high doses without inevitably leading to high complication rates. It is an effective procedure. Your oncologist should be able to explain its advantages to you. If you wish to trawl the research try this link: brachytherapy for head and neck cancer

I had brachy therapy done in late October of 2003. Radiation beads were inserted into my tongue for a little more than four days. The tumor had already been virtually eliminated from standard radiation; the brachy therapy was done to eliminate any microscopic cancer cells that might have been undetected. I have had no recurrence, and feel confident that the brachy therapy is a big part of the reason for that.