Who is a candidate for APBI?
Not everyone is a candidate for APBI. Patients must qualify based on the current guidelines of the American Brachytherapy Society and American Society of Breast Surgeons. The recommendations are: • Age > 45 • Invasive ductile carcinoma or DCIS subtypes only • Tumor size < 3cm • Negative surgical margins, and • Sentinel or auxiliary nodes negative. In addition, there are several technical factors which must be determined based on a planning CT scan such as placement of the catheter and adequate spacing between the catheter and skin surface. It is important that all patients understand between 20-30% of all catheters inserted must be removed due to technical factors. These patients are still candidates for external beam radiation.
