Current situation of high-dose-rate brachytherapy for cervical cancer in Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the current situation of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for cancer of the cervix in Brazil, regarding apparatuses, planning methods, prescription, fractionation schedule and evaluation of dose in organs at risk.


METHODS
In the period between March/2012 and May/2013, a multiple choice questionnaire was developed and sent to 89 Brazilian hospitals which perform HDR brachytherapy.


RESULTS
Sixty-one services answered the questionnaire. All regions of the country experienced a sharp increase in the number of HDR brachytherapy services in the period from 2001 to 2013. As regards planning, although a three-dimensional planning software was available in 91% of the centers, conventional radiography was mentioned by 92% of the respondents as their routine imaging method for such a purpose. Approximately 35% of respondents said that brachytherapy sessions are performed after teletherapy. The scheme of four 7 Gy intracavitary insertions was mentioned as the most frequently practiced.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors observed that professionals have difficulty accessing adjuvant three-dimensional planning tools such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.
Master, Fellow PhD degree in Physics, Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil.
Rogério Matias Vidal
RM
da Silva
Master, Professor, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás (PUC Goiás), Goiânia, GO, Brazil.
Juliana Castro Dourado
JC
Pinezi
Specialist in Medical Physics, Physicist at Hospital Chama, Arapiraca, AL, Brazil.
Luiz Eduardo Andrade
LE
Macedo
PhD, Professor, Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil.
Divanízia do Nascimento
Ddo N
Souza
Brachytherapy; Brazil; Cancer; Cervix; Research; Uterus