MammoSite is a new radiation therapy system that uses a balloon catheter to deliver radiation directly to the area surrounding an excised tumor. Named for the special catheter that works with high dose rate (HDR) radiation, MammoSite provides accelerated partial breast irradiation to patients diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. With MammoSite, radiation treatment time is reduced by several weeks and only a limited area of the total breast gets radiated.  More healthy breast tissue, therefore, is conserved than in traditional external beam radiation. 

Following a surgery called a lumpectomy, women who qualify for MammoSite get treated twice a day for five days in our outpatient clinic. After the 10 treatments, the catheter is removed. Typical side effects of external beam irradiation, such as skin irritation and fatigue, are largely eliminated by MammoSite's unique design which allows only a few minutes of intense internal dosing to the specifically affected breast tissue.