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Brachytherapy.com
Brachytherapy and Tomotherapy at
Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Tulsa

Our new Tulsa center

Cancer Treatment Centers of America specializes in empowering each patient emphasizing holistic whole person care while using the latest advances in technology like brachytherapy, tomotherapy, and therasphere. This website is focused on many of those cutting edge treatments and also on our unique philosophy for how we focus on cancer.

What is brachytherapy?

Brachytherapy is an advanced cancer treatment. Radioactive seeds or sources are placed in or near the tumor itself, giving a high radiation dose to the tumor while reducing the radiation exposure in the surrounding healthy tissues. The term "brachy" is Greek for short distance, and brachytherapy is radiation therapy given at a short distance: localized, precise, and high-tech.

Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) uses brachytherapy to treat many types of cancer. Some of the tumors we treat with brachytherapy are:

CTCA specializes in high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy. With HDR brachytherapy, thin catheters are first placed in the tumor. The catheters are then connected to an HDR afterloader (see picture on right). This machine contains a single highly radioactive iridium pellet at the end of a wire. The pellet is pushed into each of the catheters one by one under computer control. The computer controls how long the pellet stays in each catheter (dwell time), and where along the catheter it should pause to release its radiation (dwell positions). With a few well placed catheters in the tumor, HDR brachytherapy can provide a very precise treatment that takes only a few minutes. After a series of treatments, the catheters are removed, and there are no radioactive seeds left in the body.

CTCA also has many other advanced treatments, such IMRT, nutritional therapy, LIFE lung bronchoscopy, radiofrequency ablation, photodynamic therapy, intra-arterial chemotherapy, and most importantly a whole person approach to treating cancer.

The brachytherapy team at CTCA - Tulsa consists of Dr. Doug Kelly and Dr. James Flynn. Dr. Todd Brookover participates in the prostate brachytherapy program. Contact us for more information about our center. The brachytherapy program at CTCA - Zion, Il is headed up by Dr. Bernard Eden.