October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is important that women educate themselves as much as they can about breast cancer because more than 200,000 women in the Unites States will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. No one actually knows what causes breast cancer, so doctors are in the position of needing to find breast cancer in the earliest stage possible. Treatment must be tailored to give women the least disfiguring surgery and mildest chemotherapy without compromising a woman's chance of survival.

Radiation therapy has provided a means to limit the amount of surgery that sometimes was required to adequately treat breast cancer. A mastectomy #- the surgical removal of the entire breast #- is still a very good option for treating breast cancer, but it can be emotionally devastating for a woman. A lumpectomy provides a choice for women with early stage breast cancer. The tumor and a small amount of surrounding normal tissue are removed. This has typically been followed by six weeks of external beam radiation therapy. A lumpectomy and radiation therapy work well together to fight breast cancer and prevent recurrence just as effectively as having a mastectomy. Radiation decreases the recurrence rate of the tumor in the breast by 23 percent as compared with having a lumpectomy alone with no post-operative radiation.

Sometimes committing to a course of radiation therapy which is given five days a week for six weeks is difficult, particularly for those women who work or have demanding home responsibilities. These women may choose a mastectomy just because their schedule does not allow the six weeks needed for external beam radiation.

A newer and very effective option is called partial breast irradiation and takes just five days to complete. A special catheter called a Mammosite is implanted at the lumpectomy site, and radiation therapy is given directly to the area of the breast that is at the highest risk for recurrence of the tumor. The radiation is given over five days only, and the catheter is simply removed in the doctor's office at the end of the radiation treatment. Studies have shown that patients who receive partial breast irradiation via a Mammosite catheter have low recurrence rates and very high satisfaction because of the good cosmetic results.

Partial breast irradiation using a Mammosite catheter is not experimental. The catheters are FDA approved and more than 22,000 women have been treated with partial breast irradiation. Any woman diagnosed with breast cancer who meets criteria for lumpectomy with partial breast irradiation should talk with her doctor about the use of a Mammosite catheter and the much shorter course of radiation which can be offered in this manner.

Radiation therapy has very little for side effects. When the catheter is properly positioned, there is little more than a sunburn to the skin. Radiation damage to structures deeper within the body is exceedingly rare. Radiation sometimes causes women to feel more tired, but it does not cause any nausea or vomiting and is not associated with hair loss. These are side effects from chemotherapy.

A diagnosis of breast cancer is devastating for any woman. Knowing options available for treatment can make decision making easier during a time of personal crisis. Also, knowing that a mastectomy is not the only option available to women may help get them through a very difficult time.

To hear the testimonies of women who have undergone Mammosite treatment, log onto voicesofmammosite.com.

Dr. Geer is a general surgeon at Auburn Memorial Hospital with a special interest in breast problems and breast cancer management.

She has been placing Mammosite catheters since her arrival at AMH in April, 2006.