American Brachytherapy Society Learning Portal

Introduction Brachytherapy refers to radiation treatment where radioactive material is placed adjacent to, or directly into, the tumor tissue. This is a surgical aspect of the Radiation Oncology speciality, and it requires additional training and expertise.  Many tumor sites are treated with brachytherapy, including GYN, GI, breast, ocular melanoma, sarcoma, and penile cancer, as well as prostate cancer. Unlike in Europe and Canada, utilization of brachytherapy in the United States has decreased in recent years. The reasons may include the development of new technologies that do not require procedural expertise (e.g., SBRT), inadequate training, and/or inadequate remuneration. Yet we believe that brachytherapy is the most effective form of radiation treatment for prostate cancer. In this series, we include presentations from the leading experts in the field of brachytherapy to discuss long-term disease outcomes, toxicity, socioeconomic issues, training, and new developments in the field. Faculty Mira Keyes, MD, FRCPC, FABS, British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Steven J. Frank, MD, ​FABS, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas Timothy N. Showalter, MD, MPH, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA Brian J. Moran, MD, ​FABS, Chicago Prostate Center, Westmont, Illinois Juanita M. Crook, MD, FRCPC, ​FABS, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada Michael J. Zelefsky, MD, ​FABS, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York Peter F. Orio, III, DO, MS, ​FABS, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Milford, Massachusetts Daniel Petereit, MD, FASTRO, ​FABS, Dakota West Radiation Oncology, Rapid City, South Dakota Gerard Morton, MD, ​FABS, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario Read More

Overview Brachytherapy refers to radiation treatment where radioactive material is placed adjacent to or directly into the tumor tissue. This is a surgical procedure usually performed by clinicians in the radiation oncology field, and it requires additional training and expertise. Many tumor sites are treated with brachytherapy, including gynecologic cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, breast cancer, ocular melanoma, sarcoma, penile cancer, as well as prostate cancer. Unlike in Europe and Canada, the utilization of brachytherapy in the United States has decreased in recent years. The reasons for this may include the development of new technologies that do not require procedural expertise (e.g., stereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT), nor the same level of training. In addition, remuneration changes have played a significant role in disincentivizing brachytherapy use in the US.   The American Brachytherapy Society argues that brachytherapy is the most effective form of radiation treatment for prostate cancer. In this series, we include presentations from the leading experts in the field of brachytherapy in order to discuss long-term disease outcomes, toxicity, socioeconomic issues related to the use of brachytherapy, training, and new developments in the field. Faculty Martin T. King, MD, PhD, Dana Farber Cancer Institute Mira Keyes, MD, FRCPC, British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) Mitchell R. Kamrava, MD, Radiation Oncology - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Juanita M. Crook, MD, FRCPC, University of British Columbia Gerard Morton, MD, Odette Cancer Centre / Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Manuj Agarwal, MD, Radiation Oncology, Penn Medicine Read More