Imaging for early stage breast cancer

Comments from the authors and the editorial

Financial incentives may be a driving force behind the use of APBI

Important changes made in the USA 2008: Financial reimbursement of HDR brachytherapy decreased for each radiation treatment and the metric of compensation changed from one based on dwell positions to one focused on the numbers of catheters used 2010: reimbursement to surgeons for placement of breast brachytherapy devices decreased

Problem: Now we have published guidelines for use of APBI off study We have financial reimbursement There is information in the popular press regarding APBI

Difficult to determine the exact motivation driving the disparate practices occuring nationally