title: Preliminary results of a phase I/II study of post-operative high-dose rate brachytherapy for advanced or recurrent pelvic tumours.
abstract: Electron beam intraoperative radiation therapy (EB-IORT) and intraoperative low-dose rate brachytherapy (IOLB) seem able to improve the local control of advanced or recurrent pelvic tumours (ARPT). We report the usefulness, technical considerations and potential advantages of employing post-operative high-dose rate brachytherapy (POHB) as a treatment for ARPT. From February 1995 to February 1997, 14 patients underwent POHB for ARPT. The mean age was 58 years (range: 37-74). Six patients presented with recurrent rectal carcinoma, three with cervix carcinoma (one primary T3; two recurrences), two with bladder carcinoma (one primary T4; one recurrence), one with prostate carcinoma, one with recurrent pre-sacral lymphoma and one with undifferentiated carcinoma. At the time of resection, blind-end HDR catheters were implanted in a single plan in the tumour bed and stabilized by absorbable sutures. Eight days later, POHB delivered 20Gy in 5 fractions or 40Gy in 10 fractions for advanced and recurrent tumours, respectively. To decrease the incidence of late side-effects, a change was made after the tenth patient to deliver 2 Gy per fraction twice a day, with an interval of 6 h between each fraction. With a median follow-up of 8 months (range: 1-22), local control was achieved in all cases. Six patients developed metastatic disease. One patient presented a perineal wound dehiscence requiring surgery 2 months after POHB. POHB is feasible for patients with recurrent or advanced pelvic diseases, and appears more cost-effective than EB-IORT for dosimetric and radiobiological considerations. Compared with IOLB, POHB allows the total radioprotection of the medical staff, and, in the context of cost reduction, a reduction of the overall time of hospitalization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France. mariepol@dialup.Francenet.fr
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hannoun-Lévi
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cowen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Houvenaeghel
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bladou
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Delpero
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Resbeut
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001918:Brachytherapy; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010386:Pelvic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D016896:Treatment Outcome