North Shore Radiation Therapy is First on Long Island to Treat Patients with the Contura Applicator for Partial Breast Radiation

Powerful new approach for the treatment of breast cancers in only five days

(Huntington, NY) - North Shore Radiation Therapy has become the first cancer center on Long Island to treat breast cancer patients with a revolutionary new technique using the Contura device from Senorx.

The Contura Brachytherapy procedure is a partial-breast radiation treatment that allows breast cancer patients requiring radiation therapy after a lumpectomy to be treated in five days, rather than six to seven weeks for whole-breast irradiation.

“Brachytherapy is from the Greek word meaning ‘close’ or ‘internal,’ referring to a way of delivering treatment from inside rather than outside,” explained Maged Ghaly, M.D., “By targeting treatment from inside the breast, we can complete radiation treatment in 5 days, allowing patients to return more quickly to their day-to-day lives.”

Radiation therapy is given to most patients who have a lumpectomy for breast cancer, to kill cancer cells or prevent them from reproducing or spreading, reducing the risk of recurrence. Whole breast irradiation uses a radiation source outside the body to treat the cancer site, typically involving daily treatments for six days per week over a six- to seven-week period.

Many breast cancer patients may be appropriate candidates for alternatives to whole breast radiation treatment known as partial breast irradiation or breast brachytherapy, a technique for delivering internally targeted radiation. Breast brachytherapy delivers radiation to the breast tissue surrounding the lumpectomy cavity rather than to the entire breast.

The Contura is a small balloon-based device implanted into the breast to treat the tissue surrounding the cavity left by lumpectomy surgery. After being inserted, the balloon is inflated and filled with saline; vacuum is used to help the balloon fit closely within the often irregularly shaped lumpectomy cavity. Then a radiation seed is sent through five separate “lumens” or channels inside the balloon, allowing the radiation dose to be “contoured” to reach the targeted area.

“The dose is directed by where the seed sits in the balloon, allowing us to concentrate the radiation dose on the tumor area,” explained Heather Zinkin, M.D. “If the seed were too close to the skin in channel one, we might place the seed in channels three or four for a longer time than in channel one.”

Before the introduction of Contura in 2007, balloon brachytherapy was available with only a single channel for delivery of the radiation seed. Some patients who were possible candidates for the therapy were excluded because the location of the lesion relative to their breast size did not allow appropriate placement of the radiation seed to minimize radiation dose to the skin, chest wall or ribs.

Contura Multi-Lumen Balloon Brachytherapy was developed to address this problem by using five separate channels to place the radiation seed. It also employs vacuum suction to help the balloon fit closely within the often irregularly shaped lumpectomy cavity, so the targeted areas receive the prescribed therapeutic dose.

“The multiple channels of the Contura and its vacuum feature help the physician to shape or contour the radiation dose to obtain a more optimal result,” said Richard Byrnes, M.D., “We are able to better target the radiation to the areas in most need of treatment.”

Since 1988, North Shore Radiation Therapy has provided premier radiation therapy services to Suffolk County. The center offers 3-D Conformal Radiation Therapy, IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy), IGRT (Image Guided Radiation Therapy), SRS (Stereotactic Radiosurgery), RapidArc, Prostate Brachytherapy, Mammosite, Contura and Gynecological Brachytherapy. North Shore Radiation Therapy is the most experienced in prostate cancer treatment in Suffolk County. The center is staffed by board certified physicians, and highly trained clinicians with expertise in utilizing the most advanced radiation therapy technology. Located at in Huntington, and Smithtown, New York, the center is open Monday through Friday, and accepts all insurance plans. Appointments can be made by calling (631) 427-2273. You can visit the website at http://www.cancer-radiation.com/

Contact Information:
North Shore Radiation Therapy
Jeffrey S. Musmacher
Chief Operating Officer
631-427-2273
jmusmacher@cancer-radiation.com
http://www.cancer-radiation.com/

NEW Treatment for Breast Cancer

Partial Breast Radiation Therapy with Brachytherapy Using a Multicatheter Balloon

Contura - Multi-Lumen Balloon Applicator

North Shore Radiation Therapy is the FIRST ON LONG ISLAND to offer patients this NEW INNOVATIVE BREAST CANCER TREATMENT in ONLY 5 DAYS. This new breast cancer radiation therapy option is through internal radiation. This is commonly known as breast brachytherapy.
This is done by placing a radiation source inside the body. This process has three important advantages:

It places the radiation inside the lumpectomy cavity (the space left when a tumor is removed). The radiation is targeted to the area where cancer is most likely to recur.

Radiation is delivered from the within the cavity, limiting the amount or radiation to healthy surrounding tissue, thereby reducing the potential for side effects to occur.

The therapy can be completed in 5 days in an out patient setting.

A Simple Way To Deliver Radiation From The Inside

The Contura is a new minimally invasive method of delivering internal radiation therapy following a lumpectomy for breast cancer. Therapy is given on an outpatient basis, so there is no need for a hospital stay and the treat can be completed in 5 days
The Contura is a single small balloon catheter than (A) fits inside the tumor resective cavity (the space left after the surgeon has removed the tumor). A tiny radioactive seed (B), connected to a machine called an afterloader (C), is inserted into the balloon and delivers the radiation therapy.

This focuses the radiation dose on the area of the breast at highest risk for tumor recurrence. Radiation therapy with this device is preformed over a period of 1 - 5 days. When used alone, patients typically receive treatment twice a day for 5 days.
If your doctor feels that external beam radiation is appropriate for you, the Contura may also be used a boost therapy in conjunction with external beam radiation. A boost is a procedure that delivers additional therapy directly to the area of the breast at highest risk for tumor recurrence.
The safety and effectiveness of the brachytherapy as a replacement for whole breast irradiation in the treatment of breast cancer has not been established. Please consult with your Radiation Oncologist to determine if you are an appropriate candidate for treatment with the Contura.

Mammosite Breast Brachytherapy

Last year, North Shore Radiation Therapy continued it's groundbreaking treatments for breast cancer. In 2007, more women underwent targeted partial breast radiation therapy, called MammoSite, at North Shore Radiation Therapy, than anywhere else in the region.

MammoSite was approved by the FDA in 2002. Since then, more than 35,000 women have been treated with this remarkable procedure which is the most widely utilized and accepted method of accelerated partial breast irradiation. MammoSite therapy delivers radiation internally, directly to the site of the tumor, where the likelihood of recurrence is greatest.

North Shore Radiation Therapy is proud to play a role in "success stories" for women who have battled breast cancer. Many of the community's surgeons from Suffolk County and surrounding areas have participated in TCC's MammoSite program, contributing to this great achievement. This New Year, the physicians and staff of North Shore Radiation Therapy look forward to spreading the word on this innovative treatment and helping more and more women get back to their normal lives.

This is how MammoSite 5-Day Targeted Radiation Therapy simplifies breast cancer treatment…

1. Placement

After the breast cancer tumor is removed (lumpectomy), a small, soft MammoSite balloon attached to a thin tube (catheter) is placed inside the lumpectomy cavity through a small incision in the breast.

• The balloon is “inflated” with saline solution so that it fits snugly into the cavity. It remains inflated during the 5-day treatment.
• A small portion of the catheter remains outside the breast; this is secured to a cushioned gauze pad to prevent movement of the catheter.

2. Treatment

• Treatment is planned by a radiation oncologist who will take images of the MammoSite balloon catheter in the breast and determine the amount of radiation needed.
• During therapy, the portion of the catheter that remains outside your breast is connected to a computer-controlled High Dose Rate (HDR) machine that inserts a radiation “seed” to deliver the therapy.
• Once therapy is complete, the seed is removed, the catheter is unplugged, and you will be free to return to your normal daily activities.
• No radiation remains inside your breast in between treatments.

3. Removal

• After 5 days of treatment, your MammoSite balloon catheter will be removed, usually on the last day of treatment.
• The balloon is gently removed through the same incision made to place it.

For more information, call North Shore Radiation Therapy at

(631) 864-5600 or visit their website at www.licancer.com

New Prostate Cancer Treatment

A groundbreaking new development provides image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) two to eight times faster and more precisely than is possible with traditional IMRT or helical tomotherapy. This is a winning combination that enables physicians to improve the standard of care and treat more patients.

Plan studies comparing fixed-beam and helical IMRT with RapidArc show that RapidArc can reduce the amount of non-therapeutic radiation reaching healthy tissues during treatment. For example, in the case of head and neck cancer treatments, RapidArc plans are better at protecting critical structures such as the spinal cord, brain stem, eyes, optic nerve and chiasm, parotid (salivary) glands, and brain. Moreover, with Rapid Arc’s highly efficient use of the primary beam, secondary stray radiation caused by scatter and leakage are reduced by over 50% on average compared with fixed field IMRT.

Other tests showed that even complex RapidArc treatment plans can be delivered in less than two minutes, with fewer than 750 MUs. In comparison, Varian’s best IMRT treatments, delivered one field at a time, require approximately one minute per field to deliver, while the average multislice helical IMRT treatment requires 10 to 15 minutes.

Studies by Cedric Yu, DSc, professor of radiation oncology at the University of Maryland Medical Center into single-arc IMRT has shown it to be equal to or better than multiple-field IMRT in terms of target volume coverage and normal tissue sparing. He found that a single arc can deliver essentially similar dose distributions compared with IMRT plans that incorporate as many as 36 fields.

THIS NEW INNOVATIVE TREATMENT IS ONLY ONE OF THE MANY OFFERINGS TO BE AVAILABLE AT THE NEW NORTH SHORE RADIATION THERAPY ON LONG ISLAND IN NEW YORK, OPENING MARCH 2008.

See the link on the right for more information