How does brachytherapy work?

A treatment team places an applicator, catheter, or small radioactive source in a planned position. The source may be inserted for a session and removed afterward, or a seed may remain in place when that approach is appropriate. Planning scans help the team map the tumour and nearby organs before radiation is delivered. Because the source is close to the target, the treatment area can be carefully shaped while nearby tissue is considered.

Brachytherapy is used in selected cancers, including cervical, womb, prostate, vaginal, and eye cancers. It may be given alone or combined with external-beam radiotherapy, surgery, or other treatment.

Ask whether you need fasting, a bowel or bladder preparation, or a temporary break from medicines. Tell the team about pregnancy, bleeding problems, allergies, and previous radiation. Arrange transport if anaesthesia or sedation is planned. After treatment, follow instructions about activity, wound or applicator care, and intimacy; advice differs when a source is temporarily inserted or a seed remains.

Contact the treatment team for heavy bleeding, increasing pain, fever, foul-smelling discharge, difficulty passing urine, or new bowel problems. Seek urgent help for severe breathlessness, fainting, or uncontrolled bleeding. Use the radiation-safety instructions supplied for your specific treatment.

Ask where the source will be placed, whether it will be removed, how many visits are planned, what preparation is needed, and which side effects require an urgent call.