Radioactive seeds used to fight breast cancer in Calgary

Doctors in Calgary are using small radioactive seeds, each the size of a grain of rice, to treat low-risk breast cancers.

It's more targeted than radiationand oncologists say the results are just as successfulwith few side effects.

This potentially may represent another advancement for breast cancer management, saidradiation oncologist Dr. Siraj Husain in a release. I think targeted treatment is what were going to movetowards in everything we do.

It's called breast brachytherapyand about 20 patients are trying it at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.

Doctors implant 50-80radioactive seeds made from the chemical element palladiuminto the breastaround theformer tumour site.

Theseedsremain in the breast but lose their main radioactivity after about six weeks.

By not using external radiation beams, skin reaction may be reduced, as will the impact ofradiation on other organs, including the lungs and the heart, saidHusain.

The chance of the breast shrinking or changing shape is also diminished. It also means patientscan avoid the daily trips to the hospital over the course of many weeks for traditional radiationtreatment. They can carry on with their normal routines.

Treatment pioneered in Toronto

The treatment was pioneered at theSunnybrook Health Sciences Centrein Toronto about 10 years ago.

Right now only women with tumours smaller thanthreecentimetres qualify for the treatment.

Last month, Doreen Thomson was the first patient to have the treatment in Alberta. Her cancer was discoveredafteraroutine mammogram last spring detected somethingin the left breast of the58-year-old financial services manager.

When she woke up her medical team was celebrating and she said she knew it was a success.

They even had a little cupcake with No.1 on it for me, she said in a release.

Thomson was sore at first, but she was soon back at workand then enjoyed a vacation with herhusband.

I do feel like its getting better, she said.

According to the most recent statistics available, breast cancer was the most commonlydiagnosed cancer among females in Alberta with about 2,250 cases in 2010.