J Korean Assoc Maxillofac Plast Reconstr Surg.  2006 Sep;28(5):470-476.

High dose rate brachytherapy in primary and recurrent tongue cancer

• Lee UL
• Lee JH
• Choung PH
• Kim MJ
• Park JY
• Choi SW
• Cho KH

Abstract

Low-dose rate brachytherapy(LDR) has been effective modality for treatment of oral cancer. But the disadvantage of LDR is radioexposure of medical staff. To overcome this problem, high dose rate(HDR) brachytherapy has been developed. Our study evaluates the outcomes of patients with tongue cancer as treated by HDR brachytherapy. Between 2002 and 2005, eight patients with carcinoma of the tongue were treated with HDR brachytherapy. Five patients had AJCC stage I or II disease and the remaining three patients had AJCC stage III or IV. The male-to-female ratio was 2:6 and the mean age was 60.1 years (range: 21-80 years).The median follow-up time was 23.8 months (range: 7-55 months). There was no local failure until now. Three patients showed some complications. Two patients showed soft tissue necrosis. There was no bone sequela in all cases. Our experience in treating tongue cancer with HDR brachytherapy is encouraging, because it gave a satisfactory local control. Prospective studies are necessary to delineate the optimum indication for this treatment modality and long-term outcome.

Keyword

High dose rate brachytherapy; Tongue cancer

MeSH Terms

Brachytherapy*
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Medical Staff
Mouth Neoplasms
Necrosis
Tongue Neoplasms*
Tongue*