title: Twice-daily high-dose-rate brachytherapy for medically inoperable uterine cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Medically inoperable patients with uterine cancer pose a therapeutic challenge. We developed a twice-daily schedule of high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDRB) after a single insertion procedure that required a hospitalization of 3 days.
  
  
  METHODS
  Favorable patients were offered brachytherapy alone, and all other patients received HDRB after pelvic external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). The prescribed dose was 7Gyx5 fractions and 4-5Gyx4-5 fractions for those treated after EBRT. HDRB was delivered with a b.i.d. schedule (4-6-h interval).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-two patients (21 Stage I, 1 Stage IIB) were deemed medically inoperable. Sixteen patients received EBRT followed by HDRB, and six received HDRB alone. There were no procedural complications or significant acute toxicity. No thromboembolic events occurred within 30 days of the implant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This technique allows patients to be treated using a single procedure for insertion, with brief hospitalization for twice-daily HDRB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA. gersztenk@upmc.edu
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gerszten
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Faul
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.forename: Raj
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Selvaraj
authors.forename: Gwendolyn C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mogus
authors.forename: Dwight
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heron
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001510:Bed Rest; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*