During the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing that hasn’t stopped is the need for cancer treatment. While patients might be hesitant to leave their homes for weeks at a time for treatment, there is a fast-track treatment option at Mayo Clinic for some breast cancer patients. Certain low-risk breast cancer patients can now complete their surgery and radiation in less than 10 days.

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Tina Hieken, a Mayo Clinic surgeon, explains how the expedited treatment program combines a pathologist's mid-surgery confirmation that the cancer has not spread, with a type of partial breast radiation called brachytherapy.