Columbus Regional Health's Cancer Center is happy to announce the addition of high-dose rate (HDR) skin surface brachytherapy treatment at our cancer center. In 2016, CRH began utilizing the Nucletron microSelectron® Digital Brachytherapy system for the treatment of skin, breast, prostate, advanced lung and gynecologic malignancies. This new technology significantly expands the radiation cancer treatment options available to our patients and the ability to get cutting edge care closer to home.
Basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma are the most common skin cancers, developing most often on sun-exposed body regions. These non-melanoma skin cancers can be treated with local excision or Moh's surgery as primary management. Radiation therapy for patients with difficult surgical risks such as increased bleeding factors, poor healing characteristics, multiple prior excisions or poor baseline performance status issues can be candidates for upfront initial curative radiation treatment or receive radiation as a part of the needed follow-up care after resections such as Moh's surgeries with adverse pathologic findings or in recurrent cancer situations. Brachytherapy offers patients a treatment option which is much shorter and much more comfortable than conventional external beam based radiation treatments. HDR brachytherapy provides good cosmetic results and is typically delivered in as few as six to ten treatments.