title: Palliation of obstructive oesophageal and cardial carcinomas with laser and endoluminal iridium radiation.
abstract: The combination of laser with endoluminal 192-iridium radiation for the palliation of malignancies of the oesophagus and the cardia has been introduced to overcome the short-lived effect of laser treatment alone. Concluding from early experience, this method seems to prolong the effect of laser treatment alone, with a low risk of complications. However the initial optimistic results, claiming a permanent relief of dysphagia in 80% of the patients, cannot be reproduced under prospective conditions. The combination of laser and 192-iridium radiation with other palliative methods, such as external radiation and/or chemotherapy is feasible and remains to be studied in a comparative way.
mesh_terms: D001918:Brachytherapy; D002299:Cardia; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D007496:Iridium Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D053685:Laser Therapy; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*
chemical_list: D007496:Iridium Radioisotopes