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Tampere University Hospital (Tays) has begun offering a new form of radiotherapy to treat rectal cancer in which a high dose of radiation is targeted at the tumor surface. The aim is to destroy the tumor so that more patients may avoid major surgery and a potentially permanent stoma. Finland is at the forefront of implementing this novel treatment.

Every year, some 730,000 new cases of rectal cancer are diagnosed worldwide. The treatment of rectal cancer often involves surgery to remove part or all of the rectum. Surgery is an effective treatment for cancer, but it can result in a permanent stoma as well as long-term complications that affect bowel function, urination and sexuality.

"Curing cancer is always our primary goal, but we also want to preserve the best possible quality of life. If a tumor can be completely eradicated without removing the rectum, the patient may—in the best-case scenario—avoid both major surgery and a stoma," says professor Toni Seppälä from Tampere University and Tays.

Tays is the first hospital in Finland to introduce contact radiotherapy for rectal cancer. The medical term for this treatment is high-dose-rate brachytherapy, or HDR brachytherapy. The treatment delivers radiation directly to the tumor via a device inserted into the rectum.

The advantage of the method is that a high dose of radiation can be targeted at the tumor while minimizing radiation exposure in the surrounding healthy tissues.

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