Catawba Valley Medical Center (CVMC) recently added High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy, an advanced technology for the treatment of cancer including prostate cancer, according to Wade Smith, CVMC radiology administrator. 

Brachytherapy treats cancer using a high-intensity radioactive source implanted directly into the patient’s tumor through fine needles by physicians using computer-guided equipment.  The implant can be permanent or temporary, but the goal is the same: Treatment of the cancer with as little disturbance or damage to the surrounding healthy tissue as possible.

“Brachytherapy isn’t new,” said Smith.  “This technology has been used at CVMC for years in the treatment of breast, rectal and gynecological malignancies.  But this addition of the High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy enables physicians to streamline treatments of cancers such as prostate, breast and  gynecological among others, turning many treatments from overnight hospital stays to outpatient procedures.”

Catawba Valley Medical Center is a not-for-profit, public healthcare system providing and promoting the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being of the public in addition to serving as a center for health education, wellness services, preventative medicine and acute care. CVMC, recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as a Magnet facility, was recently named a Hospital of Choice by the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers.