Internal Cardiac Difibulator and Radiation Therapy

juliachu00

I was just diagnosed with breast cancer last week. My lump was discovered on my annual mammogram. my lump is small, about .5 cm. I thought i was going to have a lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy, but since i have an internal cardiac defibrillator (ICD), it complicates things. i found out that radiation therapy could damage my ICD. Now i have to decide if i should have the radiation therapy, or just have the lumpectomy or have a masectomy? Has anyone else been diagnosed with breast cancer who has an ICD? And what treatment did you decide to go with? I am having a hard time making a decision. Thanks

Moderators

Hi Julia-

We want to welcome you to BCO. We're sorry you find yourself here, but we hope you find this community to be a source of support! You may want to try also posting in our Radiation forum, for feedback and insight regarding rads therapy with your ICD: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/70. We also have a forum for members with breast cancer and another diagnosis which you might find helpful: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/142.

We're sure you've done so already, but our suggestion would be to discuss your treatment with your cardiologist, if you currently see one. Just to be on the safe side, and make sure your entire medical team is on the same page!

The Mods

rgoossen

Julia, I have an ICD and will be starting radiation treatments on April 9th. My breast cancer is on my right breast, I had a lumpectomy and node removal 1st. According to my RO he is not concerned as they are on opposite sides. A RN will attach electrodes and place magnet over defibrillator to turn it off during radiation, if anything is concerning during the radiation they can turn off the radiation and treat...this way the ICD will not fire during radiation.

sbelizabeth

Hubs is an ICD engineer--he says call the technical service department for the manufacturer of your ICD (look at your ID card) and give them a call.

Lump on the same side or different from the ICD? Rads might damage it, if it's directly in the beam, which would be a pretty big radiation area for a little lump. If it's just scatter, probably OK.

But check with your device manufacturer.

ceanna

Julia, sorry you find yourself here, but glad you found this site. First please check with your electrophysiologist or implant surgeon and ask your questions. You don't say what side your BC is on, but less to worry about if on right than left side. You will want to ask your treatment center if you are eligible for brachytherapy rads--it is a type of targeted radiation for one week instead of the most often offered 6 week treatment--done internally. It contains the rads to a small area and they could most likely avoid your ICD entirely. If your treatment center doesn't offer brachytherapy, see if you can locate a center near you who does. Please don't rule out any options at this point before you see what's possible. More questions to the appropriate doctors will help you with your options. Let us know if you have more questions and what you decide. All the best to you.

juliachu00

Thanks everyone. My BC is on the left side. I am meeting with my surgeon again tomorrow so I can get more of my questions answered. My surgeon has been talking to my cardiologist, radiation oncologist, and electrophysiologist. We will be discusing my options .