At Cancer Care of Western New York, our doctors have successfully treated thousands of women with breast cancer.
If you plan to have a lumpectomy (part of your breast removed), you may be a good candidate for High Dose Rate Brachytherapy (HDR). With HDR, we can maximize your chance of being cured, while minimizing your risk of possible side effects 
.
HDR delivers a higher dose of radiation quickly, which means the overall length of treatment is usually only five days.
Here is what you can expect:
- Shortly after your lumpectomy, you will have a CT Scan (“CAT” Scan).
- Based on the results of this scan, our team will develop your customized radiation treatment plan. As always, the goal is to deliver a high dose of radiation to the specific area, while minimizing the radiation dose to surrounding healthy tissues and lowering the chance of side effects.
- Your doctor will place a small balloon-like device inside your breast.
- Twice a day (usually for five days), you will come to our office for treatment. Typically, there is a six-hour break between the two daily treatments. You are free to leave the office during these breaks, and you should be able to go to work or do whatever you usually do during the day.
- During each treatment, the HDR machine will temporarily place a radioactive “seed” into the device inside your breast, then remove it 10 or 15 minutes later. The treatment is not painful, and you are not radioactive after the treatment.
- Once your radiation treatments are complete, your doctor can easily remove the “balloon” device in his or her office.
Contact us to learn more about Cancer treatment options
For more information about any of our services, please call 716-844-5500 for our Cheektowaga office, 716-338-9500 for our Jamestown office, or 716-898-2850 for our Niagara County office, email info@cancercarewny.com, or fill out this online form.