Business People
June 3, 2008
"Early detection is the best protection."
It's been the mantra of breast cancer prevention messages for years. In fact the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that when breast cancer is discovered at an early, localized stage and treated, there is a 98 percent five-year survival rate. That's important because, according to the American Cancer Society, a woman in the United States has a one in eight chance of developing invasive breast cancer.
Among the successful treatments for early stage breast cancer is a newer, intriguing alternative called MammoSite 5-Day Targeted Radiation Therapy. Within days of having a cancerous lump removed, a patient has a balloon catheter placed into the area of the breast where the tumor was located. Radiation is then delivered directly to the tissue surrounding the original tumor, targeting the site where recurrence is most likely and minimizing exposure to the rest of the breast, skin, ribs, lungs and heart.
What makes MammoSite therapy even more appealing is that radiation treatments are done twice daily for five days, and each treatment takes only 15 minutes. This is a much shorter timeframe than traditional whole breast radiation, which is performed five days a week for approximately six weeks.
"MammoSite is an exciting treatment option for women with early stage breast cancer," says Dr. Bryon Stephens, a board certified general surgeon with Indiana Surgical Specialists. "Since it was introduced in 2002, we now have five-year data that shows it is effective in the treatment of breast cancer. In fact it is proving to be comparable to the gold standard of whole breast radiation."
The data that Stephens is referring to indicates that there have been no local recurrences of breast cancer among the 43 treated patients from the original clinical trials. One hundred percent of patients would recommend MammoSite to a friend or family member, and all agreed that they would choose the same therapy if they had to do it over again. Since 2002 MammoSite therapy has been used to treat breast cancer in approximately 38,000 women.
"Most women who are candidates for this procedure find it to be an attractive option," continues Stephens. "Everyone is busy with work, family, etc., so committing to six weeks is considerable. If therapy can actually be done in one week and is as good as the gold standard, then there is no reason not to want to do that."
While MammoSite therapy is promising, it isn't for every woman. The American Society of Breast Surgeons indicates that ideal candidates are 45 years of age or older with a tumor that is less than three centimeters in diameter. The cancer may be invasive or isolated, but lymph nodes cannot be involved.
Candidates must also have a negative surgical margin around the tumor, meaning that there is a rim of normal tissue around the cancer cells that can be excised with the tumor itself. The physical characteristics of the breast following surgery are also considered.
There is also a chance that the catheter cannot be positioned properly, making it impossible to give the patient the proper radiation therapy. Although uncommon, patients faced with this problem must be treated with whole breast radiation instead.
Women who are able to benefit from MammoSite therapy may experience mild side effects, such as redness, bruising and breast pain. After the catheter is removed, the incision may also drain for a few days before healing completely. As with other types of radiation, some women may still require a form of chemotherapy.
But while there are a few side effects to consider - just like any other treatment - the benefits can be considerable. For businesswoman Lynn Croteau, the idea that she could be treated for breast cancer and still go to work was both appealing and amazing. Like many women, she had never even heard of MammoSite therapy. Once her radiologist talked with her about it, though, she knew it was the treatment for her.
In August 2007, after meeting all of the necessary criteria, Croteau visited Dr. Stephen's office to have the balloon catheter placed in her breast. Radiation began the following Monday and continued through Friday of that week. A self-declared workaholic, Croteau had therapy in the morning, went to work for a while and then returned for another treatment in the afternoon. The catheter was removed after her final treatment on Friday.
During her five-day therapy, Croteau experienced little pain or discomfort. In fact feeling tired was her only side effect during the week of radiation. And that, she says, might have been based on difficulty finding a comfortable position to sleep in at night.
"I had such a good reaction to the entire process," explains Croteau. "I wasn't sick or uncomfortable. I didn't miss any work, either, even though I could have taken as much time off as I needed."
Croteau contends that she actually wouldn't have wanted any extra time on her hands, so the MammoSite option was a wonderful choice for her.
"When you are first diagnosed with cancer, everyone thinks you're going to die," she says. "The longer the treatment, the more I think it would have preyed on my mind and the more depressed I may have become.
"Sometimes I think this was too easy, because my experience was not horrid in any way," she continues. "God was on my side. MammoSite is something people should know about. Women need to know that there is another option."
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