PURPOSE To investigate the incidence of, and possible factors associated with, seroma formation after intraoperative placement of the MammoSite catheter for accelerated partial breast irradiation. METHODS AND MATERIALS This study evaluated 38 patients who had undergone intraoperative MammoSite catheter placement at lumpectomy or reexcision followed by accelerated partial breast irradiation wi...

Nancy Thompson, RN, MS, AOCNS, is a clinical nurse specialist at Swedish Cancer Institute, Caroline Cogen, RN, BSN, is a staff nurse at Swedish Medical Center, Debra Forman, RN, BSN, OCN ®, is a supervisor in the Comprehensive Breast Center at Swedish Cancer Institute, and Sheryl Londerville, RN, BSN, OCN ®, is the radiation oncology charge nurse at Swedish Cancer Institute, all in Seattle, WA....

PURPOSE To investigate quantitatively the deformation of the mammosite balloon, eccentricity of the source position and their effects on the dose delivered to the tumor lumpectomy site and critical structures. MATERIALS AND METHODS The distances of the brachytherapy source to the surface of the mammosite balloon were measured in using radiographic images for fractions 1 to 10 for twelve patie...

PURPOSE To review our institution's experience of treating patients with the MammoSite (Cytyc Corp., Marlborough, MA) breast brachytherapy catheter to deliver accelerated partial-breast irradiation (APBI), for determining short-term treatment efficacy, cosmesis, and toxicity. METHODS AND MATERIALS From January 2000 to April 2006, 80 patients treated with breast-conserving therapy (BCT) receiv...

PURPOSE To provide longitudinal follow-up and assess the intermediate outcomes in breast cancer patients treated with the MammoSite radiation therapy system. METHODS AND MATERIAL Ninety-two patients with histologically proven stage 0-II breast cancer were treated with MammoSite accelerated partial breast irradiation after breast-conserving surgery. The catheter was placed at the time of surge...

BACKGROUND This report presents 3 years of data on treatment efficacy, cosmetic results, and toxicities for patients enrolled on the American Society of Breast Surgeons MammoSite (Cytyc, Bedford, Mass) Breast Brachytherapy Registry Trial. METHODS A total of 1440 patients (1449 cases) with early stage breast cancer who were undergoing breast-conserving therapy were treated with the MammoSite d...

The objective of this work is to evaluate the interfractional biological effective dose (BED) variation in MammoSite high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy. Dose distributions of 19 patients who received 34 Gy in 10 fractions were evaluated. A method was employed to account for nonuniform dose distribution in the BED calculation. Furthermore, a range of alpha/beta values was utilized for specific c...