title: Perioperative high-dose rate brachytherapy using a bendy applicator (flab): treatment results of 74 patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Radiotherapy plays a pivotal role in tumor treatment. Brachytherapy as an additional radiation technique allows local dose increments in areas at high risk of local failure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our past 15-year experience with tissue-equivalent bendy applicator brachytherapy at the University Hospital Münster, Germany was reviewed. A series of 74 consecutive patients who had mainly been treated for sarcomas with perioperative brachytherapy was analyzed with a focus on local relapse-free survival and side-effects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 5-year local control rate was 73% in primary treatment situations with a significant influence of additional external irradiation, surgical margin depth and tumor entity. Late sequelae of combined modality treatment were observed in 40 patients (54%) and mainly concerned wound healing (n = 18, 24%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high-risk collective, in view of local failure, showed adequate local control rates as well as acceptable late sequelae. Flab brachytherapy is a good treatment option to achieve local radiation dose increments in patients at high risk of local failure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, University Hospital Münster, Germany. Tobias.Boelling@ukmuenster.de
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bölling
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schüller
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Distelmaier
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schuck
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gosheger
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Winkelmann
authors.forename: Uta
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dirksen
authors.forename: Heribert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jürgens
authors.forename: Hans-Lars
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Kronholz
authors.forename: Normann
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Willich
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Könemann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019990:Perioperative Care; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D012512:Sarcoma, Ewing / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult