Iridium is being used in a revolutionary new type of cancer treatment that is so far yielding encouraging results.

The new treatment involves the use of Iridium as a radiation device, and markedly cuts down the amount of time spent by patients at the hospital.

Unlike traditional techniques for treating breast cancer - which involve five days of treatment a week - the new method only requires ten separate treatments.

These treatments are given twice a day for five days and are also said to be less demanding.

In the new procedure, called catheter-based or interstitial radiation, doctors numb the breast, then insert ten to 20 small tubes into the area where the tumour was.

Then they insert a radioactive "seed" containing Iridium 192 into each catheter, leave it in briefly, take it out and put it in the next catheter, in a process that takes just ten minutes.

Dr Frank Vicini, chief of oncology at the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, USA, told the Boston Globe that the technique was an attractive one, with further tests now set to begin.

Dr Vicini will be the principle investigator of the trial of partial breast irradiation, with a sample of around 3,000 women.

However, doctors warn that the treatment is only at a trial stage at present, and is most effective with smaller tumours, with the traditional technique remaining the standard choice for medical professionals.

Nevertheless the breakthrough is offering hope to some patients and is exciting many members of the medical fraternity.