About This Treatment
Cancer cells multiply faster than normal cells in the body. Because radiation is most harmful to rapidly growing cells, radiation therapy damages cancer cells more than normal cells. Specifically, radiation therapy damages the DNA of cancer cells. Doing so prevents the cancer cells from growing and dividing.
Types of radiation oncology treatments
Franciscan Health offers patients traditional and minimally invasive radiation therapy using linear accelerators and CT scanning for greater treatment accuracy in the fight against cancer.Radiation oncology services can include:
- Brachytherapy
- Image-guided radiation therapy
- Intensity modulated radiation therapy
- Plaque brachytherapy for ocular melanoma
- Stereotactic radiation therapy
- Stereotactic radiosurgery
Mammosite® Brachytherapy
Some of our facilities offer MammoSite®, a technology used for the treatment of some breast tumors. It is a minimally invasive, short-duration form of brachytherapy used in breast cancer after lumpectomy procedures.
By internally delivering radiation directly to the tissue surrounding the original tumor, exposure to the rest of the breast, skin, ribs, lungs and heart is limited. MammoSite® can reduce treatment times from six weeks to one and makes it easier for women to consider lumpectomies rather than mastectomies, promoting the practice of breast conservation therapy.
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