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Developments in Ophthalmology 2013Brachytherapy is the preferred radiation treatment modality for various intraocular tumors, most commonly, uveal melanoma. Radioactive sources are placed directly onto... (Review)
Review
Brachytherapy is the preferred radiation treatment modality for various intraocular tumors, most commonly, uveal melanoma. Radioactive sources are placed directly onto or around the tumor with the aid of episcleral plaques, whereby the employed sources exhibit an extremely sharp fall-off of dosage outside the few millimeters around the tumor. With such high focality, radiation dose to vision critical structures is minimized. Various sources have been used over the years, with iodine-125 being the most common. This chapter will highlight the history of brachytherapy for the treatment of intraocular tumors, current practice including isotopes and plaques utilized, as well as a comprehensive treatment planning and physics review.
Topics: Brachytherapy; Eye Neoplasms; Humans
PubMed: 23989125
DOI: 10.1159/000351053 -
Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews Jan 2017Brachytherapy is a radiotherapy modality associated with a highly focal dose distribution. Brachytherapy treats the cancer tissue from the inside, and the radiation does... (Review)
Review
Brachytherapy is a radiotherapy modality associated with a highly focal dose distribution. Brachytherapy treats the cancer tissue from the inside, and the radiation does not travel through healthy tissue to reach the target as with external beam radiotherapy techniques. The nature of brachytherapy makes it attractive for boosting limited size target volumes to very high doses while sparing normal tissues. Significant developments over the last decades have increased the use of 3D image guided procedures with the utilization of CT, MRI, US and PET. This has taken brachytherapy to a new level in terms of controlling dose and demonstrating excellent clinical outcome. Interests in focal, hypofractionated and adaptive treatments are increasing, and brachytherapy has significant potential to develop further in these directions with current and new treatment indications.
Topics: Brachytherapy; Diagnostic Imaging; Humans; Imaging, Three-Dimensional
PubMed: 27637454
DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2016.09.002 -
Brachytherapy 2020India has a longstanding tradition in the practice of brachytherapy and has actively contributed to the scientific literature by conducting prospective studies, clinical... (Review)
Review
India has a longstanding tradition in the practice of brachytherapy and has actively contributed to the scientific literature by conducting prospective studies, clinical audits, developing innovative techniques, and performing randomized studies. Indian investigators have also contributed to international collaborative research, education, training programs along with guideline development for brachytherapy in cervix and head and neck cancers. The present article summarizes the key contributions to scientific literature, current infrastructure, skill set for brachytherapy, existing challenges, and strategy to further strengthen brachytherapy practice in the next decade.
Topics: Biomedical Research; Brachytherapy; Clinical Competence; Female; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Humans; India; Radiation Oncology; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms
PubMed: 32948463
DOI: 10.1016/j.brachy.2020.08.019 -
International Journal of Clinical... Aug 2017Brachytherapy is an important radio-therapeutic modality for a variety of malignancies, including prostate cancer, cervix cancer, breast cancer, vagina cancer,... (Review)
Review
Brachytherapy is an important radio-therapeutic modality for a variety of malignancies, including prostate cancer, cervix cancer, breast cancer, vagina cancer, endometrium cancer, head and neck cancer, and many more. This technique has been shown to be an effective and safe non-pharmaceutical treatment with fewer serious complications and better outcome than other treatments for breast cancer. Every year, hundreds of thousands of patients around the world benefit from brachytherapy, which reliably delivers a relatively higher radiation dose to the intended target. However, the follow-up time, patient eligibility criteria, treatment strategy, and radiation doses used in published studies are somewhat inconsistent, making it difficult to strictly compare and evaluate the performance of the treatment. More rigorous studies are required to confirm the safety of this technique and to make outcome data more comparable. In this review, we focus on recent advances in breast brachytherapy techniques and provide an overview of outcomes, cosmetic outcome, toxicity, complications, and limitations of brachytherapy for the treatment of breast cancer. We also summarize the clinical outcomes and toxicity results in patients receiving or not receiving brachytherapy.
Topics: Brachytherapy; Breast Neoplasms; Female; Humans; Radiotherapy Dosage; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 28664300
DOI: 10.1007/s10147-017-1155-5 -
Cancer Metastasis Reviews 2002Prostate brachytherapy has been practiced for nearly 100 years in various forms. However, technological advances over the past 20 years in imaging, computing, and... (Review)
Review
Prostate brachytherapy has been practiced for nearly 100 years in various forms. However, technological advances over the past 20 years in imaging, computing, and devices have propelled this technique into the mainstream of prostate cancer treatments. A discussion of radiobiology principles is important to the understanding of modern brachytherapy technique. For low risk tumors, brachytherapy may be administered as monotherapy. For high risk tumors combination therapy with external beam therapy is indicated. Androgenablation therapy is used for hormonal downsizing or for select high risk tumors. Diseases free survival appears similar to that seen with other definitive therapies for clinically localized prostate cancer. The short term morbidity of the procedure includes significant obstructive and irritative voiding symptoms. Future brachytherapy goals are discussed.
Topics: Brachytherapy; Humans; Male; Prostatic Neoplasms; Quality of Life
PubMed: 12465751
DOI: 10.1023/a:1020871707029 -
American Journal of Clinical Oncology Jun 1988
Review
Topics: Antineoplastic Agents; Brachytherapy; Combined Modality Therapy; Forecasting; Health Physics; Humans; Hyperthermia, Induced; Neoplasms; Radiobiology; Radiotherapy Dosage; Research Design
PubMed: 3289365
DOI: 10.1097/00000421-198806000-00010 -
Expert Review of Medical Devices May 2009Multiple institutions have explored accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). The method of APBI with the longest reported follow-up is multicatheter interstitial... (Review)
Review
Multiple institutions have explored accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). The method of APBI with the longest reported follow-up is multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy. Balloon brachytherapy was introduced to simplify the APBI procedure. The MammoSite device was the first breast brachytherapy device designed for the treatment of APBI to hit the market. The MammoSite catheter was adopted rapidly in both academic and community settings and has led to a great increase in the number of patients undergoing the APBI procedure. We introduce and describe five additional breast brachytherapy devices.
Topics: Animals; Brachytherapy; Breast Neoplasms; Catheterization; Female; Humans
PubMed: 19419289
DOI: 10.1586/erd.09.6 -
Clinics in Chest Medicine Sep 1995Intraluminal endobronchial brachytherapy is a technique in which an encapsulated radioactive source is placed near a tumor for localized irradiation. It is effective,... (Review)
Review
Intraluminal endobronchial brachytherapy is a technique in which an encapsulated radioactive source is placed near a tumor for localized irradiation. It is effective, with or without other treatment modalities, in palliating problems caused by endobronchial malignancies, such as dyspnea, hemoptysis, cough, atelectasis, and postobstructive pneumonia. This article describes the different techniques and dosage schemes for brachytherapy, indications and contraindications, reported rates of efficacy and complications, and limitations of the technique.
Topics: Brachytherapy; Carcinoma, Bronchogenic; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; History, 20th Century; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Palliative Care; Radiotherapy Dosage
PubMed: 8521699
DOI: No ID Found -
Nature Reviews. Urology Jun 2017Brachytherapy (BT), using low-dose-rate (LDR) permanent seed implantation or high-dose-rate (HDR) temporary source implantation, is an acceptable treatment option for... (Review)
Review
Brachytherapy (BT), using low-dose-rate (LDR) permanent seed implantation or high-dose-rate (HDR) temporary source implantation, is an acceptable treatment option for select patients with prostate cancer of any risk group. The benefits of HDR-BT over LDR-BT include the ability to use the same source for other cancers, lower operator dependence, and - typically - fewer acute irritative symptoms. By contrast, the benefits of LDR-BT include more favourable scheduling logistics, lower initial capital equipment costs, no need for a shielded room, completion in a single implant, and more robust data from clinical trials. Prospective reports comparing HDR-BT and LDR-BT to each other or to other treatment options (such as external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) or surgery) suggest similar outcomes. The 5-year freedom from biochemical failure rates for patients with low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk disease are >85%, 69-97%, and 63-80%, respectively. Brachytherapy with EBRT (versus brachytherapy alone) is an appropriate approach in select patients with intermediate-risk and high-risk disease. The 10-year rates of overall survival, distant metastasis, and cancer-specific mortality are >85%, <10%, and <5%, respectively. Grade 3-4 toxicities associated with HDR-BT and LDR-BT are rare, at <4% in most series, and quality of life is improved in patients who receive brachytherapy compared with those who undergo surgery.
Topics: Brachytherapy; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Male; Patient Selection; Prostatic Neoplasms; Radiotherapy Dosage
PubMed: 28664931
DOI: 10.1038/nrurol.2017.76 -
Rinsho Hoshasen. Clinical Radiography Dec 1988
Review
Topics: Brachytherapy; Humans; Neoplasms; Radiotherapy Dosage
PubMed: 3070085
DOI: No ID Found