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Better care,
better treatment,
better future: New breast cancer treatment
From Spotlight on Health Oct./Nov. 2007
When Ramona Mohs, 91, was
diagnosed with breast cancer in
April 2007, she was given the
option of being the first patient
at Coborn Cancer Center to be
treated with MammoSite® 5-Day
Targeted Radiation Therapy.
Coborn Cancer Center is the first
in the area to offer this option to
breast cancer patients.
“What a blow
at my age to
be told I have
breast
cancer,” Mohs
said. “I am
very fortunate
that I was a
candidate for the MammoSite
procedure. I wouldn’t have
considered having a mastectomy,
but a lumpectomy was something
I thought I could handle,” she
said. “The MammoSite procedure
significantly shortened the time I
spent in the clinic and allowed
me to get back to my normal,
active life again.” |
Ramona Mohs
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MammoSite® 5-Day Targeted
Radiation Therapy allows many
patients with early-stage breast
cancer, who are candidates for a
lumpectomy, to receive targeted
radiation in just five days versus
35 days.
“Ramona was a perfect
candidate,” said Maria Mallory,
M.D., a surgeon from
CentraCare
Clinic. “Having
a lumpectomy
involves
surgical
removal of the
entire tumor in
the breast,
while leaving as much normal
breast tissue as possible.”
After a breast cancer patient
undergoes a lumpectomy, the
MammoSite balloon catheter is
inserted internally, delivering
radiation directly to the tissue
surrounding the original tumor.
“I didn’t have a bit of discomfort
or any side effects,” Mohs said. “It
was a piece of cake.”
“The MammoSite treatment
targets radiation to the area where
tumors are most likely to recur,
while minimizing exposure to
healthy tissue,”
said Barbi
Kaplan-Frenkel,
D.O., medical
director of
Radiation
Oncology,
Coborn Cancer
Center at
CentraCare Health Plaza.
Learn more about Coborn Center Center.
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