Disposable Miniature X-Ray Tubes for Brachytherapy

They offer safety and patient convenience, enabling patients to be treated in as little as one to five days. Conventional radiation therapy, in contrast, requires daily therapy for five to seven weeks. The new disposable miniature x-ray tubes are designed to offer even greater safety and ease of use by removing exposure to the radioactive isotopes now used.

The miniature x-ray tubes are being developed by Xoft microTube, Inc. (Fremont, CA, USA; www.xoftmicrotube.com). The company's first product will provide local radiation therapy for patients who receive breast-conserving surgery as part of therapy for early-stage breast cancer. Because the miniature x-ray tube is portable, does not require radiation-shielding, and may be turned on and off at the flip of a switch, it can provide radiation treatments in a typical operating room during surgery, states the company.

Investigators at Stanford University Medical Center (Stanford, CA, USA) have begun a clinical study that examines several approaches to the use of shorter courses of radiation therapy, including single-fraction, intra-operative radiation therapy. "Results to date of intra-operative radiotherapy or five day courses of local radiation therapy in early-stage breast cancer suggest safety and efficacy may be equivalent to longer courses of radiation therapy,” said Frederick M. Dirbas, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at Stanford.




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