title: Clinical Impact of Escalating Relative High-dose-rate Intracavitary Brachytherapy Dose in Stage IIB Cervical Cancer.
abstract: To investigate whether high-dose-rate (HDR) intracavitary brachytherapy (IBT) dose ratios can predict treatment outcomes in patients with stage IIB cervical cancer.
  
  
  
  Ninety-three patients treated with weekly cisplatin-based concurrent chemoradiotherapy and HDR IBT were analyzed. Potential prognostic factors and treatment outcomes were compared between low-HDR-IBT-ratio (≤0.43) and high-HDR-IBT-ratio (>0.43) groups, and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed.
  
  
  
  Five-year disease-specific survival (DSS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were significantly shorter in the low-compared to the high-HDR-IBT-ratio group. A high HDR IBT ratio was confirmed as an independent prognostic factor for DSS and PFS.
  
  
  
  A high HDR IBT dose ratio improves DSS and PFS in patients with stage IIB cervical cancer. Therefore, active administration of HDR IBT beyond previously accepted levels may be necessary for the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Oyeon
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: O Kyu
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Taek
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Suk-Joon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea chunm@ajou.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Mison
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chun
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001918:Brachytherapy; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002945:Cisplatin
keywords: Cervical cancer; high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy; survival