High-dose-rate remote afterloading intracavitary radiation therapy for cancer of the uterine cervix. A 20-year experience.
Retrospective analysis was performed on 1022 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix who were treated with high-dose-rate remote afterloading intracavitary irradiation at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Angawa, Chiba-shi, Japan, from 1968 to 1982 in comparison with low-dose-rate intracavitary radiation therapy. The patient population consisted of 147 patients with Stage I disease, 256 patients with Stage II disease, 515 patients with Stage III disease, and 104 patients with Stage IV disease. Absolute 5-year survival rates for Stages Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIb, IVa, and IVb disease were 88.1%, 76.9%, 67.0%, 52.2%, 24.1%, and 13.3%, respectively. The rates of severe complication of Grades 3 and 4 were 4.1% for the rectosigmoid colon, 1.2% for the bladder, and 1.1% for the small intestine. In the case of Stage I to II disease, the optimal dose from intracavitary sources was suggested to be 2900 cGy +/- 200 cGy at point A, with 4 to 5 fractions of 600 to 700 cGy delivered over 4 to 5 weeks. These results suggested that high-dose-rate intracavitary radiation therapy provided clinical results comparable to those of a low-dose-rate technique.
Arai
T
T
Division of Hospital, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba-shi, Japan.
Nakano
T
T
Morita
S
S
Sakashita
K
K
Nakamura
Y K
YK
Fukuhisa
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011832:Radiation Injuries; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*