Endobronchial High Dose Rate Brachytherapy for Control of NSCLC

Long term survival of NSC lung cancer relies on successful surgical resection. However, approximately 75% of primary lung carcinoma cases present with surgically incurable disease and are treated with alternative approaches such as radiation and/or chemotherapy. The survival results are however poor. About 50-60% of patients treated with external radiation therapy will experience local recurrence [9]. Most studies have recommended a dose more than 60 Gy to achieve long-term local control [3], which however will jeopardize the tolerance of the normal surrounding tissues. The rationale of endobronchial brachytherapy stemmed from the fact that it offers a mean to deliver additional radiation to a local disease process even after previous full dose external beam therapy with sparing of the surrounding normal tissues from the early and late effect of X-ray therapy [5]. The main objective of the present study was to review and analyze, retrospectively, the effectiveness of HDR brachytherapy in the management of primary lung cancer with a curative intent as well as palliation of recurrent or metastatic endobronchial malignances with respiratory distress.