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14 \ CONNECT breast + health Did You Know? The oncology navigator at The Hope Center is a certified oncology registered nurse with over 25 years of experience. Having a reliable source of information is extremely important to a woman's emotional well being after an abnormal mammogram, and this program's patient- focused care increases satisfaction for both patients and staff. The navigator has the knowledge and ability to: • Expedite scheduling of additional diagnostic studies and biopsies • Provide educational and emotional support to newly diagnosed patients • Offer treatment option education New Breast Cancer Treatment That's Right on Target This spring, The Hope Center at Cartersville Medical Center added high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy to its radiation oncology services—meaning patients no longer have to travel away from Cartersville to receive this sophisticated treatment. Unlike conventional radiation therapy techniques—which send externally generated radiation beams to targeted areas inside the body— brachytherapy uses radioactive sources, or seeds, placed inside a malignancy or other targeted area to treat cancer internally. "Brachytherapy has been used to treat gynecologic cancers for decades," says William W. Thoms, Jr., MD, FACR, Medical Director of The Hope Center at Cartersville Medical Center. "What distinguishes brachytherapy from conventional radiotherapy is its precise delivery—it irradiates the tumor to high doses with relative sparing of normal, surrounding tissue. [PHOTO] William Thomas, MD An Exciting Alternative Brachytherapy—including the HDR variety—is still used to treat gynecologic cancers today, but a new application for HDR brachytherapy is a technique to treat breast cancer called accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). According to Dr. Thoms, certain breast cancer patients—ideally those with small breast carcinomas who likely won't need chemotherapy—are candidates to undergo APBI using The Hope Center's GammaMedplus™ iX HDR brachytherapy unit. "Following surgery to remove the cancerous tumor, the patient's surgeon places an applicator in the breast through which the radiation source is later delivered to the treatment volume," Dr. Thoms says. "A computed tomography scan helps the radiation oncologist view the applicator's position and dimensions and tailor the radiation dose specific to the size and shape of the patient's cancer. During treatment, the radiation source passes through catheters placed in the applicator into the patient's body, where it delivers radiation typically over several minutes. APBI reduces patients' and nurses' exposure to radiation and allows patients to undergo two outpatient treatments daily for five days instead of a course of radiation that lasts six weeks. "Adding HDR brachytherapy is another way we're fulfilling our mission of providing first-rate oncology care to patients in Cartersville and the counties we serve," Dr. Thoms says. "The availability of this service in Cartersville is convenient for patients and helps enhances the comprehensive services already available at The Hope Center. For more information about services available at The Hope Center at Cartersville Medical Center, visit cartersvillemedical.com.