When you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, as frightening as that news is, it’s important to know as much as possible about the disease and treatments available. The ability to choose between treatments and procedures actually comforts as well as empowers those diagnosed with the disease.
Women with early stage breast cancer can make the decisions to preserve their breasts through an option called breast conservation therapy, which begins with a lumpectomy. Once the surgical procedure is completed, generally seven weeks of external beam radiation therapy follows. Many women will also require chemotherapy and hormonal management. The combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation are the time-proven methods, working to fight breast cancer.
A new strategy in breast conservation therapy is partial breast radiation. Tacoma Valley Radiation Oncology, your most experienced partial breast radiation team, has expanded the treatment options for women with early stage breast cancer by adding the SAVI treatment device to their list of options.
SAVI and MammoSite are forms of partial breast irradiation included in the breast conservation therapy, which target the affected tissue rather than the entire breast AND takes only five days rather than the traditional seven weeks.
Both options are offered in the South Sound area by THE industry front-runners, Tacoma Valley Radiation Oncology Center. In our Centers, we have rendered over 1200 treatments to women who have welcomed this time-saving option.
- The SAVI and MammoSite device is surgically placed in the cavity by your surgeon at the time of the lumpectomy.
- Radiation is delivered to the lumpectomy site via a tiny radioactive source – called a “seed” – and placed inside the device by a computer-controlled robot.
- Both are removed immediately upon completion of treatment.
- When appropriate, the SAVI or MammoSite is used in conjunction with external beam to the whole breast to shorten the overall treatment time.
These exciting treatments are an option for select patients with early stage breast cancer. If you are interested in SAVI or MammoSite and other options for breast cancer, please contact Tacoma Valley Radiation Oncology Center at 253.627.6172.
