American Brachytherapy Society Fact Sheet

Leadership:

President:	Rakesh R. Patel, MD
Vice President:	Juanita M. Crook, MD
Treasurer:	Bruce Thomadsen, PhD
Secretary:	Mark Buyyounouski, MD, MS
Directors at Large:	Akila Viswanathan, MD, MPH Josh Yamada, MD David Wazer, MD Thomas G. Shanahan, MD
Chairman:	Eric M. Horwitz, MD

Founded:
1978

Purpose:
The purpose of the ABS is to serve its members by advancing the field of Brachytherapy, by promoting excellence in education, research and clinical practice, and by representing Brachytherapy specialists and their patients.

Resources:
The ABS provides multiple resources for different audiences. For the professional community, the ABS offers a peer-reviewed journal, Brachytherapy, medical education opportunities, a “members only” newsletter, as well as a forum for discussion held at the annual conference. For the consumer, the ABS has a consumer-friendly website that is designed to offer easy-to- understand explanations of the practice, history, and applications of brachytherapy.

Perspective:
Currently, brachytherapy is being used primarily to treat prostate, breast, and cervical cancers. Because it is much less invasive than surgery and less disruptive to the patient, brachytherapy offers appropriate patients an effective alternative. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be:

• 189,000 new cases of prostate cancer and 30,200 deaths due to prostate cancer in 2002. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men

• 257,800 new cases of breast cancer and 40,000 deaths due to breast cancer in 2002

• 13,000 new cases of cervical cancer, and 4,100 deaths due to cervical cancer in 2002