HDR Brachytherapy

     I have been scheduled for High-Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy next Tuesday instead of my routine radiation treatment. I will also have this procedure done on the 20th of December and the 3rd of January. The other days I will still receive the external beam radiation therapy. 
     High-Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation therapy that delivers high doses of radiation from implants placed close to, or inside, the tumor(s) in the body. This technique ensures the maximum radiation dose is given to cancerous tissues, while minimizing exposure to the surrounding healthy tissue. The implants are inserted through a catheter which is positioned in the lung by means of a Bronchoscopy, during the procedure, the doctor passes a thin, flexible tube called a bronchoscope through your nose (or sometimes your mouth), down your throat, and into your airways through this tube the catheters are positioned and the bronchoscope is then removed and the catheters are hooked up to a machine that deliver the radioactive pellets, here is a excerpt from "Cancer Treatment Centers of America" web site that furthers explains this procedure.
           

How Does HDR Brachytherapy Work?

Because cancer often affects organs that are essential to daily functioning, it is important for radiation treatment to be tightly focused on tumors to avoid serious side effects.

• Before each HDR brachytherapy treatment, we check the position of the catheters with millimeter precision.
• During treatment, our doctors insert tiny, hollow catheters directly into tumors to deliver a precise, three-dimensional dose of radiation.
• Next, a series of radioactive pellets are inserted into each catheter. Computer guidance controls how far the pellet goes into the catheter and how long the pellet stays in the catheter to release its radiation dose.

With a few well-placed catheters, HDR brachytherapy can provide a very precise treatment for cancer in just a few minutes.

Advantages of HDR Brachytherapy

Brachytherapy offers a quicker, more effective way to give radiation treatments for some patients. For many cancer types, the entire brachytherapy treatment takes 1 to 2 days, instead of 5 to 7 weeks for external beam radiation therapy (EBRT).
Depending on the type and stage of cancer, brachytherapy may be combined with other treatments, which can vary treatment times. In many cases, brachytherapy is a promising alternative to surgical removal of a tumor or the affected organ.

     Being my cancer is not operable I am looking forward to this procedure. I will update more as this goes along.