Beaumont Health System announced today it will expand its brachytherapy program — a form of radiation therapy to treat cancer — with a new location in the lower level of Beaumont Hospital in Troy.
“Until recently, this type of advanced care was only available at Beaumont in Royal Oak,” says Dr. Gary Gustafson, chief of radiation oncology at Beaumont Troy. “Now, residents of northern Oakland and Macomb counties can find the treatment closer to home at Beaumont, Troy.”
Along with the new 1,500-square-foot facility, equipment, and experts, comes more treatment options for those with breast, cervical, uterine, vaginal, head, neck, and prostate cancers, Gustafson says.
Compared to external beam therapy, brachytherapy — which involves placing a radioactive source at the site of the cancer within the patient’s body — allows for a high total dose of radiation over a short period of time. Since the radiation dose is centered around cancer cells, less damage is done to normal adjoining tissues and organs, say Beaumont officials.
Usually, a patient undergoing brachytherapy will be treated on an outpatient basis. “It’s important to note, patients do not leave the hospital with radioactivity within them,” Gustafson says.
