title: Treatment of oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer. Indications, technical aspects, and results of interstitial brachytherapy.
abstract: Excellent local control rates of interstitial brachytherapy in oral cavity cancer and oropharyngeal carcinoma have been demonstrated in different retrospective studies. Compared to external-beam radiation therapy the high local control rates with a low rate of side effects obtained by interstitial brachytherapy are the result of a steep dose reduction in the implant-surrounding normal tissues. Therefore, interstitial brachytherapy offers rather the possibility to give high doses without inevitably leading to high complication rates. Low-dose-rate (LDR) and pulsed-dose-rate (PDR) interstitial brachytherapy with 0.4-0.55 Gy/h/24 h for tumors of the oral cavity and oropharynx in selected patients is a proven, effective and safe treatment method with excellent long-term data both as a sole treatment modality and a postoperative method, as well as a unique treatment method of head and neck tumors in previously irradiated areas. This paper deals with the technical aspects of interstitial brachytherapy, that seem to be relevant to high-quality outcome, and gives an overview of indications as well as past and recent results of interstitial brachytherapy in head and neck cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany. vstrnad@strahlen.imed.uni-erlangen.de
authors.forename: Vratislav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Strnad
mesh_terms: D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000379:methods*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011379:Prognosis; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome