OTTAWA, Sept. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Canadian doctors have tried a one-day breast cancer treatment which requires only a few hours in hospital and could let patients return to normal life more quickly,according to a Canadian Television report Thursday.

    In a pioneering Canadian trial, doctors removed lumps from six women and implanted the beads in a ring one centimetre away from the tumour site. The beads emitted low-level radiation for two months and then remained in the body after that. The patients have reported no side effects from the treatment, doctors say.

    Dr. Jean-Philippe Pignol, a radiation oncologist at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, said they want to expand the trial to 65 women and measure the effectiveness of the treatment. So far, the trials at the Ontario hospital have been conducted to analyze onlythe safety of the proposed treatment.

    To evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment compared to standard radiation, Pignol said researchers will need a study involving thousands of patients.

    "This treatment, if proven equivalent to current standard therapy, may allow women to remain active, care for their children,go to work, remain in their community and continue their normal day-to-day activities while receiving radiation treatment, "Pignol said.

    He said the treatment could be applicable to between 10 percentand 20 percent of the women who get breast cancer, particularly those diagnosed in the early stages of the disease. Enditem