Radiation Treatments from the Inside – with Your Help
Published Monday, May 25, 2026
Special Brachytherapy applicators are used to treat cancer from inside the tumour with radiation.
Imagine a radiation therapy that can bombard cancer cells from inside the tumour, saving healthy tissue from radiation exposure AND reducing the overall number of radiation treatments. Sound like the future? Actually, it already exists, and it's called high-dose radiation (HDR) brachytherapy.
Although brachytherapy is only used in specific circumstances, it can vastly improve outcomes for those patients and save more lives, particularly men facing prostate cancer. A radiation oncologist inserts special tubes called applicators into the tumour. Then, a radioactive seed about the size of a grain of rice moves through the applicators and stops at pre-determined locations for a controllable length of time. Radiation from the seed destroys tumour cells from the inside out while keeping healthy tissue safer.
However, these applicators deteriorate with time and radiation exposure – and the current applicators now need replacing. Your donation today will help ensure the team at our Cancer Centre can continue to treat patients here, closer to home.
HDR brachytherapy is another way our Cancer Centre is personalizing cancer care wherever possible. Radiation oncologists here in Thunder Bay can treat certain gynaecological, prostate, lung, and esophageal cancers using brachytherapy. Procedures take place in a custom-built operating room at the Hospital that features radiation shielding all around and a four-ton door. About 60 patients receive HDR brachytherapy every year.
“Radiation oncologists use brachytherapy based on a complicated mix of conditions including the type of cancer, tumour stage, and several other factors,” said David McConnell, Director of Regional Cancer Care North West. “The patient also has to meet certain criteria including being able to undergo anaesthesia.”
Another huge benefit: patients usually experience fewer and less severe side effects than with the more commonly performed linear accelerator (LINAC) radiation treatments. Because brachytherapy uses high doses of radiation, it can reduce the number of LINAC treatments – and sometimes replace them altogether.
McConnell also noted that the new applicators are an upgrade from previous technology. Today's applicators are made of a new composite material rather than stainless steel. “Brachy” means “close” – and the new applicators get the radioactive seed even closer to the tumour.
“The old applicators had limited ability for customizing patient treatment,” McConnell said. “But with these new ones, the seed can be moved to the sides of the applicator to get it closer to the section of tumour they're targeting allowing for tailored patient treatment.”
The new composite material also opens new possibilities for the future of brachytherapy including MRI-guided procedures – something that couldn't be done with stainless steel.
“I am so thankful that we can provide brachytherapy for many patients here in Thunder Bay,” said Dr. Margaret Anthes, who uses HDF brachytherapy for patients with gynaecological cancers. Donors make the difference. “We simply cannot offer brachytherapy without applicators. These new ones allow us to be more precise in our treatments.”
You can help upgrade our Cancer Centre's brachytherapy applicators! Your support today will ensure cancer patients in Northwestern Ontario, especially those facing prostate cancer who may benefit from brachytherapy can get it closer to home. Please call the Donation Centre at 807-345-HOPE (4673) or make your donation online today at: healthsciencesfoundation.ca/prostate
Article by Graham Strong