With increasing advances in mammography and other diagnostic screening tools, breast cancer can now be detected earlier than ever before, when the disease is at its smallest, most treatable stage. What’s more, finding breast cancer early may also give patients the opportunity to avoid traditional mastectomy in favor of the breast-conserving lumpectomy procedure. Unfortunately, many women who would be good lumpectomy candidates must still choose to undergo complete mastectomy — now they may have another option.

“To ensure successful cancer removal with lumpectomy, patients must also be treated with radiation therapy, which traditionally takes six to seven weeks,” explains North Fulton Regional Hospital surgeon Mark Gravlee, M.D. “In the past, such an elongated course of treatment presented an insurmountable burden for patients and eliminated the option of breast  conservation. Now, however, with partial breast radiation through MammoSite® 5-Day Targeted Radiation Therapy, we can provide women with comparable results of traditional radiation therapy in as little as ten treatments over five days.”

A precisely targeted therapy that delivers a full course of radiation within just a matter of days, MammoSite® minimizes exposure to healthy breast tissue as well as the skin, ribs, lungs and heart by working directly within the body.

“MammoSite® works by placing small amounts of radiation inside the cavity created by lumpectomy,” explains North Fulton Regional Hospital radiation oncologist Craig Wilkinson, M.D. “We use a balloon catheter to secure the treatment location and, over the course of five days, patients receive a twice daily course of targeted radiation. No source of radiation remains in the patient’s body between treatments and once therapy has been completed, the balloon is deflated and removed along with the catheter. This potentially reduces the side effects normally associated with radiation treatment.”

MammoSite’s® 5-day approach offers results comparable to traditional radiation therapy in a fraction of the time. “The benefits of MammoSite® are significant, but it’s vital that the treatment be delivered within the context of a multidisciplinary setting,” notes Dr. Gravlee. “Not all women are candidates for partial breast radiation and, to help give each woman the most optimal outcome possible, we work as a team to create the treatment plan for each individual patient.”

“Women get quality care when experts from all the different subspecialities come together in a single convenient location,” adds Dr. Wilkinson. “Our patients receive that level of care everyday without having to travel outside the community.”

North Fulton Regional Hospital and Roswell Imaging Center offer a variety of services to support women’s health, including the following:

• 3 Tesla MRI for high quality breast imaging
• Minimally invasive uterine fibroid embolization
• Additional imaging services including Bone Density scan, Mammography, Ultrasound, Breast Biopsy, CT, Nuclear Medicine, General Radiology, Angiography, and Fluoroscopy.

North Fulton Regional Hospital (NFRH), part of Tenet Georgia, is a 202-bed, acute-care
hospital located on Highway 9, Alpharetta Highway, in Roswell. Opened in 1983, NFRH serves North Fulton and surrounding counties through its team of over 1000 employees, 400 staff physicians and 200 volunteers. NFRH is a state-designated Level II trauma center and provides a continuum of services through its centers and programs, including neurosciences, orthopedics, rehabilitation, surgical services, bariatric surgical weight loss, gastroenterology and oncology. The hospital is fully accredited and also is certified as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.
For more information on any of these women’s imaging services at North Fulton Regional Hospital, please visit www.northfultonregional.com or call 770-751-2720.