What is a brachymesh for lung cancer treatment?

Brachymesh refers to a surgical mesh that contains radioactive seeds. The mesh is used when a lung surgeon removes a lung cancer (or metastatic tumor) using a "wedge" type of surgery. During surgery the brachymesh may be sewn directly over the surgical bed after the cancer is removed from the lung but before the chest is closed. The radiation sources remain permanently in the chest and continuously treat the tumor site for several weeks (until the sources decay down). When the radiation has been completely delivered, the risk of local cancer recurrence is greatly reduced.