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Vol.46 No.1 contents | Japanese/English |
 | Full Text of PDF (578K) Article in Japanese |
- Review -
Endobronchial Brachytherapy for Lung Cancer
Yasuo Matsumoto1, Akira Yokoyama2, Hiroko Tsukada2, Mari Saito3Department of 1Radiology, 2Internal Medicine, Niigata Cancer Center Hospital, Japan, 3Niigata Image Diagnostic Cencer, Japan
High-dose rate endobronchial brachytherapy for endobronchial carcinomas became prevalent with the increasing use of afterloading brachytherapy machines: a tiny Iridium-192 seed is driven within the prepositioned catheter by remote afterloading. We performed the procedure more safely with an applicator which provides a space between the source and the bronchial wall than with only an intraluminal catheter. In patients presenting with superficial endobronchial tumors (often found by a regular health checkup with sputum cytology), this treatment technique is more often used with curative intent than palliation. In order to reduce late complications, combining with external beam radiotherapy, using an applicator with two wings acting as spacers, evaluating point modifications depending on the airway diameter are performed. Combined treatment with endobronchial brachytherapy and external beam radiotherapy is effective (comparable to the treatment results of operating procedures) for endobronchial lesions with acceptable complications. In this paper, we described our techniques, results, and the indications for high-dose rate endobronchial brachytherapy, along with a review of literature.
key words: Endobronchial brachytherapy, Radiotherapy, Lung cancer, Endobronchial carcinoma
JJLC 46 (1): 1-6, 2006
