New intraoperative brachytherapy techniques for positive or close surgical margins

Early Experiences with Combined Treatment (Surgery and Brachytherapy) of Gynecological Recurrences Infiltrating the Pelvic Wall

Neither the surgical nor the radiotherapeutic treatment of gynecological recurrences infiltrating the pelvic wall can be curative alone. The treatment of this group of patients is possible with the CORT (Combined Operative and Radiotherapeutic Treatment) method. As maximal as possible resection of the malignancy is done for patients having no distant metastases and the brachytherapy guiding tubes are implanted into the tumour bed on the pelvic wall. The brachytherapy is carried out postoperatively. An accurate analysis cannot be done because of the short follow up and the few cases. The authors do believe that the survival results of this poor prognostic group may improve by means of this method after proper selection of patients.

Brachytherapy in lung cancer

Brachytherapy, the direct application of a radioactive isotope into the tumor bed, delivers a high dose to the tumor as compared to the surrounding normal tissue. Interstitial brachytherapy, the placement of the isotope into a tumor bed where no lumen exists, has been described but is utilized infrequently in clinical practice. Endobronchial brachytherapy, the placement of the source within the airway lumen, as a boost to conventional external beam radiation has not yet demonstrated improved local tumor control or overall survival as compared to external beam alone in the definitive treatment of inoperable lung cancer. In the palliative setting, brachytherapy can provide prompt relief of obstructive symptoms and hemoptysis in the majority of patients.

Clinical indications for brachytherapy

Brachytherapy, or placing radioactive sources either temporarily or permanently into or near a malignant tumor, is a long-established cancer treatment method. During the past 25 years, brachytherapy has become safer and more versatile than earlier radium therapy, and its indications have increased dramatically during this period. One estimate is that at least 5-10% of all patients needing radiation therapy require brachytherapy. The site-specific clinical indications and methods for brachytherapy implementation are described.

Intraoperative brachytherapy using Gelfoam radioactive plaque implants for resected stage III non-small cell lung cancer with positive margin: a pilot study

Complete surgical resection of stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is at times impossible. Adjuvant radiation therapy is required to sterilize the residual tumor. This study is to investigate the safety, reproducibility, and effectiveness of intraoperative I-125 or Pd-103 Gelfoam plaque implant technique as an adjuvant treatment for resected stage III NSCLC with positive surgical margin. Between 1989 and 1993, 12 patients with stage III NSCLC received intraoperative lung implant with radioactive I-125 or Pd-103 pellets. All 12 patients underwent tumor resection, but either gross or microscopic positive margin was found during operation. Radioactive I-125 or Pd-103 seeds were embedded in the Gelfoam plaque. After surgical resection was completed, the radioactive Gelfoam plaque was secured onto the tumor bed either by clips or suture. Either preoperative or postoperative external beam radiation of 45-60 Gy was given to all of the 12 patients. Four patients received chemotherapy. No patient has developed any early or late complications attributable to implant procedure or radiation. The local control rate at last follow-up is 82%. The 2-year overall and cause-specific survival rates are 45% and 56%, respectively. The intraoperative Gelfoam I-125 or Pd-103 planar implant technique is a safe, reproducible, and effective technique of treatment for stage III NSCLC with a positive surgical margin. Encouraging local control and survival are achieved in patients treated with this technique. This technique will compliment standard adjuvant treatments to further improve local control in resected state III lung cancer.

Intraoperative brachytherapy in non-small cell lung cancer

The lung cancer incidence and mortality rates have risen steadily each year. Survival rates during the same period have improved marginally even by the best treatment approaches. A small proportion of patients with limited disease can be offered surgical resection as the primary curative treatment. In a significant number of cases, complete resection of cancer is not possible either because the patient could not tolerate radical surgical approach or because the tumor is attached to important structures in the mediastinum precluding any surgical intervention. Intraoperative brachytherapy by various techniques offers the greatest advantage in these patients to deliver higher doses of radiation to the tumor without damage to the normal lung. Numerous intraoperative brachytherapy techniques are described to adapt to different clinical situations. Experience over the past 30 years has shown that these procedures are safe and well tolerated and can be used alone or as a boost in conjunction with external beam radiation. Published data show encouraging local control rates and survival compared with treatment by external radiation to higher doses.

Radiotherapy and brachytherapy for recurrent colorectal cancer

Radical surgical excision of locoregional recurrence of colorectal carcinoma usually produces the best survival and should be attempted whenever possible. However, recurrences are often unresectable; hence palliative local therapy may be indicated. There are several options for the radiation therapy of local, unresectable, recurrent, or metastatic colorectal cancer. Whole pelvis irradiation of 4,000-5,000 cGy followed by a coned-down boost of 1,000-1,500 cGy generally provides good symptomatic palliation in 80-90% of patients, but long-term control or cure is rarely achieved. External beam irradiation of 2,000-3,000 cGy to the whole liver with or without concurrent chemotherapy may be used for palliation of metastatic disease to the liver. A combination of intraoperative radiation therapy applied directly to the tumor bed and external beam irradiation may improve local control and survival rates. Multiple options are available for the intraoperative use of brachytherapy which can deliver high radiation doses to the residual tumor, or tumor bed, sparing normal tissue.

Paraspinal tumors: techniques and results of brachytherapy

Because of their proximity to nerve roots and the spinal cord, it is frequently difficult to achieve complete resection of paraspinal tumors. We have used brachytherapy in an attempt to prevent local recurrence and its associated neurological sequelae. This report analyzes our experience with 35 patients to determine the feasibility, optimal techniques, and efficacy of this approach. The tumor types were non small-cell lung cancer (18), sarcomas (9), and other tumor types (8). Temporary, single plane implants using Ir-192 (median minimum peripheral dose 3000 cGy) were used in 21 patients, and permanent I-125 implants were used in 14 cases (median matched peripheral dose 12,500 cGy). Local control was achieved in 51% (18/35). However, local control was poor when lung cancers were implanted and in cases where the dura was exposed. Radiation myelitis did not occur despite the combined effects of previous external beam radiotherapy (N = 21) and brachytherapy. Our experience demonstrates that combined surgery and paraspinal brachytherapy can be performed with acceptable toxicity and is reasonably effective in preventing local relapse and its neurologic sequelae, particularly for tumors other than lung cancers.

Brachytherapy in the treatment of solitary colorectal metastases to the liver

It is well-established that 30-40% of patients with solitary liver metastases from primary colorectal tumors can be cured by resection. Conventional radiation therapy has had only a palliative role in treating liver metastases because the dose that the liver will tolerate is far below a tumoricidal dose. In contrast, brachytherapy allows one to deliver a tumoricidal dose to the tumor while limiting the dose to surrounding normal tissue to the tolerance dose. As a pilot study, 125I seeds were implanted into unresectable hepatic metastases, or positive margins of resection, at the time of surgery. This report concerns six patients whose liver lesions were the only known site of disease and in whom precipitous drops in carcinembryonic antigen (CEA) levels followed the implants. Recurrence was observed in only one of the 11 implanted site, with a median follow-up of 12 months.