Cape Breton Cancer Centre introduces new breast cancer treatment method
Patients learn to hold their breath for at least 20 seconds to improve radiation beam accuracy
The Cape Breton Cancer Centre is using a new technique called breath/hold to treat some breast cancer patients.
It's a simple technique that requires the patient to take a deep breath and hold it for 20 to 30 seconds to allow a radiation beam to focus and more accurately hit its intended area.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority says the centre at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital is the first in Atlantic Canada to adopt the technique.
"The heart comes very close to the chest wall and we are treating the chest wall, so when they hold their breath, it pushes the heart downwards and out of the radiation field," said Dr, Waseem Sharieff, a radiation oncologist at the centre.
Without breath/hold, the area near the chest wall, including the heart and a major artery, would get "a significant amount of radiation," said Sharieff.
Sharieff says the technique was developed over the past decade as physicians and researchers learned more about the impact of radiation on the heart and coronary vessels.
He says research began to show that for years after radiation treatment, some patients were at greater risk of heart attack or other long-term cardiac complications.
Lots of practise
Ivy Seymour of Neils Harbour has just finished her breast cancer treatment and is now receiving followup at the centre.
She says practising the new technique was the most challenging part of her therapy.
"When I first started practising, I probably could do it for 15 seconds," she recalled. "I probably drove my husband crazy, timing me and holding it."
She says knowing the new technique would not only help her get better treatment but also protect her from heart disease made the overall procedure easier to deal with.
She says she's better now because of early detection, which picked up a small treatable tumour. After it was removed, she received radiation.
Sharieff says the centre treats 300 breast cancer patients a year, about 75 of whom will benefit from the new technique.
The breath/hold technique was developed by the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton, Ont.