Patient Resources Guide

GammaPod: A powerful new treatment option for early stage breast cancer.

GammaPod is the first and only radiation treatment system specifically designed to treat early stage breast cancer. GammaPod delivers a highly targeted dose of radiation to only the affected area of the breast and minimizes the dose to all surrounding healthy tissue and critical organs like the heart and lungs.

See GammaPod in Action

GammaPod allows patients to undergo treatment while comfortably on their stomach. This helps the breast fall away from the chest wall, moving the radiation target farther away from the heart and lungs.

Courtesy of University of Maryland School of Medicine

Have you been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer?

Know your options.

GammaPod is FDA approved and has CE Mark for treating early stage breast cancer. If you were diagnosed with later stages of breast cancer, or other types of cancer, please consult your physician.

Who qualifies for treatment with GammaPod?
While choosing GammaPod for treatment is a decision between patients and doctors, some general guidelines apply. Appropriate candidates include, but are not limited to, patients who:

Have early-stage breast cancer (stage 0, 1 or 2).
Are age 50+.
Are eligible for lumpectomy.

The GammaPod is a new way to deliver partial breast radiation for patients with early-stage breast cancer. In fact, it is the first radiation therapy technology designed specifically for breast cancer.

A patient’s experience

Hear from Linda, an early breast cancer patient who had successful GammaPod radiotherapy.

“The treatment was painless, easy, and fast! I’m very happy that I chose to have my breast cancer treated with GammaPod.”

“The treatment with GammaPod only took five days of my life, which is a lot better than 4 weeks of conventional radiotherapy!”

Get back to your life faster with GammaPod

GammaPod treatments are extremely gentle, virtually painless, and relatively short compared to most cancer treatments.

Patient-Friendly

A comfortable, gentle experience for the patient

The ergonomic design focuses on prone positioning to ensure a comfortable experience.
The gentle breast cup system minimizes motion while allowing the breast to adhere to the shape of the cup.
Fewer visits to the clinic. In many cases treatments are limited to only 5 days.

Protective

Non-invasive and non-surgical with a fast and painless recovery time

Confidence in accuracy – radiation hits the cancer only, minimizing dose to the whole breast volume, heart and lungs.
Potential to prevent cancer recurrence; as well as longer course of radiation to the entire breast.
Patients can potentially expect fewer cosmetic side effects; such as discoloration of the breast.

Proven

Cleared for use by FDA; proven to be safe and effective

Doctors and scientists at the University of Maryland invented and developed GammaPod, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared for use in 2017.
The GammaPod has been proven to be safe and effective. A variety of clinical trials are available with the potential to improve cosmetic outcomes, improve patient satisfaction, and improve convenience of care for early-stage breast cancer patients.

GammaPod treatment: what to expect

GammaPod treatment is unique because:

On each day of treatment, patients receive a daily image from a CT scanner so your radiation oncologist can define the affected area to be treated – and where not to treat.
Based on the daily image, patients treated on GammaPod receive a new and adaptive treatment plan for each day of radiotherapy treatment. This process ensures confidence in accuracy.

Here’s what you can expect during treatment:

First, your breast will be measured and custom-fit for a breast cup that will eliminate breast motion during treatment. This process may be a few days before your first treatment.
Next is imaging in the CT room so your care team sees exactly where the target/tumor is each day. After imaging, you will be moved from the standing to prone position (back facing up) on an automated treatment couch that is designed to maximize patient comfort. In the prone position, the affected breast naturally falls away from the chest wall and improves the ability of your oncologist to avoid the heart and lungs.
For the treatment procedure, you will be fitted with your custom-fit breast cup. The breast cup is noninvasive and designed to restrict breast motion so your care team can prescribe and deliver your treatment with a high degree of precision and accuracy.
While the area is undergoing treatment, you will not hear or feel the radiation. A treatment usually lasts around 15-30 minutes.
Following GammaPod treatment, you will return to the standing position and the breast cup will be removed. You can go home right after the treatment.