title: Palliative treatment of unresectable bile duct tumours.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Report on outcome of intraluminal high-dose-rate iridium-192 (HDR-Ir192) brachytherapy with or without external radiotherapy in patients with unresectable bile duct tumours suffering from symptoms of malignant obstructive jaundice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen patients (mean age: 63 years) who were unsuitable for surgical resection on preoperative evaluation/laparotomy or inoperable due to poor general condition were referred for palliative radiotherapy. After percutaneous transhepatic drainage, HDR-Ir192 brachytherapy was performed with a single dose of 2.5 Gy. Brachytherapy was given twice a day with at least a 6-h interval for 2 days, 2 or 3 days apart, up to a total dose of 10 Gy. Five patients received small-volume external radiotherapy (RT) (45 - 50.4 Gy/1.8 Gy) additionally.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Palliation with relief of the aggravating symptoms of obstructive jaundice was achieved in all patients. The actuarial 2-year survival rate of all patients was 11.9 % with a median survival of 6.5 months. Patients treated with brachytherapy alone had a median survival of 4.5 months as compared with 6.5 months after combined internal and external irradiation (log rank, P = 0.95).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with advanced unresectable bile duct cancer face a dismal prognosis; however, biliary drainage, and intraluminal brachytherapy with or without external RT, seem to be able to improve quality of life in the remaining time span.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, Karl-Franzens University, Graz. ramona.mayer@uni-graz.at
authors.forename: Ramona
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stranzl
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Prettenhofer
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Quehenberger
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stücklschweiger
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hackl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D001918:Brachytherapy; D002779:Cholestasis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007496:Iridium Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D007496:Iridium Radioisotopes