PURPOSE To investigate the incidence of and potential risk factors for fat necrosis in high dose-rate (HDR) balloon-based breast brachytherapy (BBB). MATERIAL AND METHODS Fifty-four patients were treated postoperatively with HDR-BBB between May 2007 and December 2010. Median age was 71 years (range: 50-88 years). Median tumor size was 1 cm (range: 0.1-2.7 cm). Forty-four had invasive histolog...

PURPOSE To evaluate the prognostic value of prostate-specific antigen nadir (nPSA) after high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy in clinically non-metastatic high-risk prostate cancer patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS Data from 216 patients with high-risk or locally advanced prostate cancer who underwent HDR brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy with long-term androgen deprivation therapy...

PURPOSE Historically, treatment of malignant surface lesions has been achieved with linear accelerator based electron beams or superficial x-ray beams. Recent developments in the field of brachytherapy now allow for the treatment of surface lesions with specialized conical applicators placed directly on the lesion. Applicators are available for use with high dose rate (HDR)(192)Ir sources, as w...

Background and purpose Delineation of organs at risk (OARs), such as the bladder, rectum sigmoid, plays an important role in delivery optimal absorbed dose to target owing steep gradient high-dose rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT). In this work, we propose a deep convolutional neural network-based approach for fast reproducible auto-contouring OARs HDR-BT. Materials methods Images 113 patients with l...

PURPOSE To evaluate dosimetric coverage of the prostate, normal tissue sparing, and acute toxicity with HDR brachytherapy for large prostate volumes. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred and two prostate cancer patients with prostate volumes >50 mL (range: 5-29 mL) were treated with high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy ± intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to 4,500 cGy in 25 daily fractio...

PURPOSE To evaluate the clinical outcome of high-dose-rate (HDR) interstitial brachytherapy (IBT) in patients with oral cavity cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixteen patients with oral cavity cancer treated with HDR remote-control afterloading brachytherapy using (192)Ir between 2001 and 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. Brachytherapy was administered in 11 patients as the primary treatment ...

INTRODUCTION Cervical carcinoma has traditionally been treated with low-dose-rate brachytherapy. High-dose-rate brachytherapy was developed to overcome potential disadvantages of LDR brachytherapy (radiation exposure to medical staff, prolonged treatment time, mandatory hospitalization and applicator movement). Both, LDR and HDR brachytherapy have been combined with the external beam therapy (E...

Background: This study aims to calculate the air-kerma strength (SK), the dose rate constant (∧) and the dose rate profiles of a Gammamed 12i Ir-192 source by using the Monte Carlo technique and to compare the dose rate values with those calculated by the Abacus HDR treatment planning system (TPS). Materials and Methods: Air-kerma strength (in units of U; 1 U= μGy m2 h-1) and the dose ra...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To evaluate the oncological outcome of a three-implant high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy (BRT) protocol as monotherapy for clinically localised prostate cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS Between February 2008 and December 2012, 450 consecutive patients with clinically localised prostate cancer were treated with HDR monotherapy. The cohort comprised of 198 low-, 135 intermed...