Making an immensely shocking disclosure, a recently concluded study, which was presented on Wednesday during the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium held in Texas, has claimed that an extensively swift sort of radiation treatment that is rapidly gaining popularity among women suffering from preliminary phase of breast cancer may not turn out to be as safe and effective as the traditional radiation treatment.

During the study, the researchers observed Medicare data of roughly 130,000 women, and reached to a conclusion that those who go through the quicker treatment, dubbed brachytherapy, are as much as two-times more susceptible towards having a mastectomy anytime during the next five years or so. As per researchers, it is an evident indication that clearly reveals the return of cancer. The reports were present in comparison with those who have gone through the conventional therapy of complete breast radiation.

While expressing his opinion in this regard, MD Anderson Cancer Center's assistant professor of radiation oncology, Dr. Benjamin D. Smith said: "Honestly, it was somewhat shocking to me when I got this data for the first time".

Dr. Smith was the head of the investigation team that conducted the study.

Brachytherapy mainly employs a catheter for delivering radiation straight into the cavity created once a tumor is eradicated surgically by using lumpectomy. Since the radiation is more intense in the region where it is apparently required, the therapy may well be completed successfully within a week or so. On the other hand, it takes a lengthy period of around six to seven weeks for the completion of the treatment using whole breast radiation.

As per the MD Anderson study, the process of brachytherapy has gradually gained popularity all over the region and as per statistics; it was employed in more than 13% of Medicare patients of breast cancer who went through lumpectomy and radiation treatment in the year 2007, marking a heavy escalation when evaluated against a meager 1% recorded earlier in 2000.