Principles and Techniques in Handling Brachytherapy - A Short Review

Abstract

Brachytherapy is a type of radiation that involves precisely placing radioactive sources directly into or close to the tumour. This treatment is recommended for people suffering from many forms of cancer. It is an ideal tool for delivering extremely high radiationto the tumour while reducing radiation exposure andrisk to the surroundingnormal tissue. Physicians from a variety of disciplines may be involved in either referring to or placing brachytherapy. Brachytherapy is required for many patients as either a main treatment or as part of their oncologic care. Brachytherapy can be used to treat a wide range of tumour types, including gynaecological, urologic, rectal, cutaneous, and breast malignancies. In most brachytherapy treatments, a radiation oncologist, relies on imaging techniques such as CT scans and ultrasound during the treatment planning and delivery to accurately identify the placement of encapsulated brachytherapy sources in the patient body. By using this treatment, it is possible to deliver a higher radiation dose to a limited area than conventional external beam radiotherapy. This may be more effective at destroying cancer cells while causing minimal damage to surrounding normal tissue is placed in patients are sedated for all these procedures.