Breast brachytherapy has been in use for most of the 20th century. In the 1920s, Keynes used interstitial radium needles to implant the entire breast, and frequently, the peripheral lymph nodes, to treat cancer of the breast.[1] With the advent of megavoltage radiation, external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT) was used to treat the whole breast, with brachytherapy being utilized as a boost for un...

Both primary and recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck are classic indications for brachytherapy. A high rate of local tumor control at the cost of limited morbidity can be achieved with brachytherapy through good patient selection, meticulous source implantation and careful treatment planning. However, no randomized trials have been performed, and there is scant evidence in th...

Low Dose Rate Brachytherapy (LDR-BT) is a technique for treating localized prostate cancer by implanting radioactive seeds. In conventional practice, the delivery of seeds performed using transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) imaging implant guidance and checked computed-tomography post-implant dosimetry. case TRUS, accuracy can be compromised due to sub-optimal imaging. Magnetic Resonance Imaging...

BACKGROUND Although radical prostatectomy for localized disease is considered as a standard of care, external-beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy are equally effective. We report on the technique and preliminary results of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy using a temporary iridium-192 implant technique. METHODS The authors reviewed the literature on the techniques, treatment protocols, and ...

Post-implantation dosimetry is an important element of permanent prostate brachytherapy. This process relies on accurate localization of implanted seeds relative to the surrounding organs. Localization is commonly achieved using CT images, which provide suboptimal prostate delineation. On MR images, conversely, prostate visualization is excellent but seed localization is imprecise due to distor...

MOSkin detectors were studied to perform real-time in vivo dose measurements in high dose rate prostate brachytherapy. Measurements were performed inside an urethral catheter in a gel phantom simulating a real prostate implant. Measured and expected doses were compared and the discrepancy was found to be within 8.9% and 3.8% for single MOSkin and dual-MOSkin configurations, respectively. Result...

A glass seed consisting of the β--emitting radionuclide 90Y incorporated with radionuclide 153Sm as SPECT marker is proposed for potential application in brachytherapy in order to reduce the undesirable dose to healthy adjacent organs. The aim of this work is to determine the dosimetric characteristics, as suggested in the AAPM TG-60/TG-149 reports, for this seed using Monte Carlo simulation. M...

This article reviews the indications, techniques, and results of brachytherapy in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and selected chest neoplasms. Various isotopes and techniques are used to place radioactive sources directly into a tumor, tumor bed, or the chest. Brachytherapy techniques can be tailored to the clinical situation and can be in the form of permanent interstitial...