Interstitial Brachytherapy (interstitial + brachytherapy)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Definitive radiotherapy with interstitial implant boost for squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue base

HEAD & NECK: JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENCES & SPECIALTIES OF THE HEAD AND NECK, Issue 5 2005
Omur Karakoyun-Celik MD
Abstract Background. The purpose of this study was to examine the long-term outcome of a cohort of patients with unresected base of tongue carcinoma who received interstitial brachytherapy after comprehensive external beam radiation therapy. Methods. Between 1983 and 2000, 122 patients with primary or recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx or oral cavity received interstitial brachytherapy as part of their overall management. Forty patients had primary, unresected carcinoma of the base of tongue and are the subjects of this analysis. The median age was 54 years. Fifty-four percent had T3 or T4 disease, and 70% had clinical or radiographic lymphadenopathy. Twenty-four (60%) received two to three cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The oropharynx, bilateral neck, and supraclavicular fossae were comprehensively irradiated, and the tongue base received a median external beam dose of 61.2 Gy (50,72 Gy). The primary site was then boosted with an interstitial 192Iridium implant by use of a gold-button single-strand technique and three-dimensional treatment planning. The dose rate was prescribed at 0.4 to 0.5 Gy/hr. The median implant dose was 17.4 Gy (9.6,24 Gy) and adjusted to reach a total dose to the primary tumor of 80 Gy. N2 to 3 disease was managed by a planned neck dissection performed at the time of the implant. Results. The median follow-up for all patients was 56 months, and the overall survival rates were 62% at 5 years and 27% at 10 years. The actuarial primary site control was 78% at 5 years and 70% at 10 years. The overall survival and primary site control were independent of T classification, N status, or overall stage. Systemic therapy was associated with an improvement in overall survival (p = .04) and a trend toward increased primary site control with greater clinical response. There were seven documented late effects, the most frequent being grade 3 osteonecrosis (n = 2), grade 2 swallowing dysfunction (n = 2), trismus (n = 2), and chronic throat pain (n = 1). Conclusions. In an era of greatly improved dose distributions made possible by three-dimensional treatment planning and intensity-modulated radiation therapy, brachytherapy allows a highly conformal dose to be delivered in sites such as the oropharynx. If done properly, the procedure is safe and delivers a dose that is higher than what can be achieved by external beam radiation alone with the expected biologic advantages. The long-term data presented here support an approach of treating advanced tongue base lesions that includes interstitial brachytherapy as part of the overall management plan. This approach has led to a 78% rate of organ preservation at 5 years, with a 5% incidence of significant late morbidity (osteonecrosis) that has required medical management. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck27: XXX,XXX, 2005 [source]


Early Wound Complications in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Treated With Surgery and Ir192 Brachytherapy,,

THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 1 2000
Richard V. Smith MD
Abstract Objectives: Brachytherapy, either as primary or adjuvant therapy, is increasingly used to treat head and neck cancer. Reports of complications from the use of brachytherapy as adjuvant therapy to surgical excision have been limited and primarily follow Iodine 125 (I125) therapy. Early complications include wound breakdown, infection, flap failure, and sepsis, and late complications may include osteoradionecrosis, bone marrow suppression, or carotid injuries. The authors sought to identify the early wound complications that follow adjuvant interstitial brachytherapy with iridium 192 (Ir192). Study Design: A retrospective chart review of all patients receiving adjuvant brachytherapy at a tertiary medical center over a 4-year period. Methods: Nine patients receiving Ir192 brachytherapy via afterloading catheters placed during surgical resection for close or microscopically positive margin control were evaluated. It was used during primary therapy in six patients and at salvage surgery in three. Early complications were defined as those occurring within 6 weeks of surgical therapy. Results: The overall complication rate was 55% (5/9), and included significant wound breakdown in two patients, minor wound dehiscence in three, and wound infection, bacteremia, and local tissue erosion in one patient each. All complications occurred in patients receiving flap reconstruction and one patient required further surgery to manage the complication. Complication rates were not associated with patient age, site, prior radiotherapy, timing of therapy, number of catheters, or dosimetry. Conclusions: The relatively high complication rate is acceptable, given the minor nature of most and the potential benefit of radiotherapy. Further study should be under-taken to identify those patients who will achieve maximum therapeutic benefit without prohibitive local complications. [source]


Evaluation of [11C]-choline positron-emission/computed tomography in patients with increasing prostate-specific antigen levels after primary treatment for prostate cancer

BJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 4 2007
Ludwig Rinnab
OBJECTIVE To evaluate [11C]-choline positron-emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) for detecting clinical recurrence after primary treatment for prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS In all, 50 patients with prostate cancer who had had initial therapy (radical prostatectomy in 40, external beam radiation in three and interstitial brachytherapy in seven) had PET/CT using [11C]-choline in the presence of an increased or increasing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. The mean (range) time to biochemical progression was 22 (2,136) months. Current PSA levels were determined in all patients at the time of examination. The results were correlated with the histopathology reports after targeted biopsy or surgery, and with the clinical follow-up. RESULTS The mean (median, range) PSA level in patients with positive PET/CT was 3.62 (2.42, 0.5,13.1) ng/mL, and that in patients with a negative scan was 0.90 (0.95, 0.41,1.40) ng/mL. PET/CT was positive in seven of 13 patients with a PSA level of <1.5 ng/mL, and histology was positive in this group in nine. In 17 patients with PSA levels of 1.5,2.5 ng/mL PET/CT was positive in all and the histology was positive in 13; in 11 men with a PSA level of 2.5,5 ng/mL PET/CT was positive in all 11 and the histology was positive in 10; in nine men with PSA levels of >5 ng/mL PET/CT identified all as positive and the histology was positive in eight. The sensitivity at a PSA level of <2.5 ng/mL of PET/CT for detecting recurrence was 91% (95% confidence interval, 71,99%) with a specificity of 50% (16,84)%. CONCLUSION [11C]-choline PET/CT seems to be useful for re-staging prostate cancer after curative therapy and with increasing PSA levels; this was verified by histological examination. We recommend this method at PSA levels of <2.5 ng/mL. [source]


Severity categories of the International Prostate Symptom Score before, and urinary morbidity after, permanent prostate brachytherapy

BJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2006
SARAH GUTMAN
OBJECTIVE To determine if the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) before seed implantation, stratified into mild (0,7), moderate (8,19) and severe (>20) categories, predicts brachytherapy-related morbidity in terms of IPSS resolution, catheter dependency and the need for surgical intervention after brachytherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS From January 1998 to September 2003, 1034 consecutive patients had permanent interstitial brachytherapy for clinical stage T1b-T3a NXM0 (2002 system) prostate cancer. Of the 1034 patients, 739 (71.5%) presented with an IPSS of 0,7, 287 (27.7%) of 8,19, and eight (0.8%) of ,,20. The IPSS 8,19 cohort was further stratified into 8,14 (237 men) and 15,19 (50 men) subgroups. The median follow-up was 38.2 months. In all patients, an ,-blocker was initiated before brachytherapy and continued at least until the IPSS normalized, the latter defined as a return to within 1 point of that before implantation. A median of 21 IPSS questionnaires were obtained per patient. Several clinical, treatment and dosimetric variables were evaluated as predictors of urinary morbidity. RESULTS For the entire cohort, the IPSS peaked at a mean of 0.5 months after implantation and resolved at a mean of 1.7 months. At 5 years after brachytherapy, 90.1% of patients at risk (88.8%, 95.5%, and four of eight patients with a pre-implant IPSS of 0,7, 8,19 and ,,20, respectively) were within the IPSS 0,7 category. Compared to the pre-implant IPSS, 13 patients (8%) were assigned to a higher IPSS severity category. Neither prolonged urinary catheter dependency (>5 days; 16 patients, 1.5%) or transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP, 17 patients, 1.6%) depended on the pre-implant IPSS subgroup. In Cox regression analysis, IPSS resolution was best predicted by pre-implant IPSS, prolonged catheter dependency by patient age, and TURP by any catheter dependency, the maximum IPSS increase and the maximum urethral dose. CONCLUSIONS The IPSS before implantation predicted the resolution of IPSS after brachytherapy, but did not correlate with substantial urinary morbidity, including catheter dependency or the need for TURP. At 5 years after brachytherapy, 90.1% of patients at risk were assigned to the IPSS 0,7 category. [source]


Does hormonal manipulation in conjunction with permanent interstitial brachytherapy, with or without supplemental external beam irradiation, improve the biochemical outcome for men with intermediate or high-risk prostate cancer?

BJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2003
G.S. Merrick
OBJECTIVE To determine whether hormonal manipulation improves the biochemical outcome for men with intermediate or high-risk prostate cancer and undergoing permanent brachytherapy with or without supplemental external beam radiation therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS From April 1995 to August 2000, 350 patients with intermediate-risk (225 men; a Gleason score of , 7 or a prostate specific antigen, PSA, level of , 10 ng/mL or clinical stage , T2b) or high-risk features (125 men; two or three of a Gleason score of , 7 or PSA , 10 ng/mL or clinical stage , T2b) underwent transperineal ultrasonography-guided permanent brachytherapy. No patient underwent pathological lymph node staging. Of these patients, 293 received supplemental external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), 141 received hormonal manipulation, with 82 having hormonal therapy for , 4 months (median 4) for cytoreduction, while 59 had neoadjuvant and adjuvant hormonal manipulation (median 8 and 12 months for intermediate- and high-risk, respectively). The median patient age was 68.5 years. No patient was lost to follow-up. The mean (sd) and median follow-up was 50 (18) and 49 months (calculated from the day of implantation). Biochemical disease-free (BDF) survival was defined using a consensus definition. The clinical variables evaluated for BDF survival included risk group, Gleason score, patient age, clinical T-stage and pretreatment PSA. Treatment variables included use of hormonal manipulation stratified into cytoreductive (, 4 months) vs adjuvant (> 4 months) regimens, supplemental EBRT, isotope and dosimetric variables. RESULTS For intermediate-risk patients, the 6-year actuarial BDF survival rates were 98%, 96% and 100% for hormone naïve, cytoreductive and adjuvant treatment, respectively (P = 0.693); for high-risk patients the respective values were 79%, 94% and 92% (P = 0.046). When stratified by pretreatment PSA, hormonal manipulation improved the outcome for patients with a PSA of , 10 ng/mL (P = 0.019), but not for those with < 10 ng/mL (P = 0.661). Hormonal status was not statistically significant in predicting biochemical outcome when stratified by Gleason score. The follow-up in hormone-naïve patients was significantly longer than that in hormonally manipulated patients, at 55 (20) vs 43 (15) months (P < 0.001). In a multivariate analysis only the Gleason score predicted failure in intermediate-risk patients, while pretreatment PSA, the use of hormonal manipulation and Gleason score predicted the outcome in high-risk patients (P = 0.035). For both hormone-naïve and hormonally manipulated BDF patients, the median PSA level after implantation was < 0.1 ng/mL. CONCLUSION In patients treated by permanent prostate brachytherapy, hormonal manipulation improved the biochemical outcome for those at high-risk and those with an initial PSA of , 10 ng/mL, but not for those with intermediate-risk features. The use of hormonal therapy for> 4 months conferred no additional biochemical advantage over short-course regimens. Because the follow-up in hormone-naïve patients was longer than that for those receiving hormonal manipulation, additional follow-up will be mandatory to confirm the durability of these findings. [source]