Contura

Hi Jody:
Thanks for asking. Before I touch on the differences, let's discuss what they have in common:
* they are treatment devices used to give focused radiation after lumpectomy;
* both are balloons with catheters inflated inside the surgical site that bend to varying degrees;

The radiation technique is called intracavitary brachytherapy (inside the cavity, 'close' treatment) for both devices.

There are some technical differences. MammoSite originally had only a single channel for radition inside the catheter so it couldn't 'shape' the radiation as easily as Contura, which has multiple channels. However, that means that to accomodate multiple channels the catheter is thicker, and so is the hole in the skin present during the treatments. MammoSite has come out with a competing multi-channel product, and there are others as well. There have been no randomized trials comparing the benefits of one vs the other to suggest meaningful differences.

Who benefits? Women who are considered candidates for accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). Currently this technique seems to be favored over external radiation or another kind of brachytherapy. To understand APBI you can look at my prior answer. http://bit.ly/mZ2Fdg