Doctors at UCSD have been testing a new method of treatment for women who have early stage breast cancer. It's a medical device that allows radiation to be delivered only to the site of the cancer, as opposed to the entire breast. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has the story.
The standard method of treating early stage breast cancer involves removing the tumor, and radiating the entire breast. In recent years, partial breast radiation has been another option.
Dr. Catheryn Yashar is a radiation oncologist at UCSD. She's working with a new device she says appears to have some advantages.
Yashar: It's very well-tolerated by the patient, it's very easy to put in by the physician, and we can spare normal tissues better than the other forms of partial breast radiation; spare the skin, spare the chest wall, ribs, lung, because we can shape that dose.
Dr. Yashar says preliminary results are promising. But she says the jury is still out as to which method of treating early stage breast cancer is the most effective.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
