Purpose: Locally recurring cervical cancer after surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy remains a major therapeutic challenge. This paper presents a new therapeutic technique for such patients: interstitial brachytherapy (BT) guided by real-time three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT).
Material and methods: Sixteen patients with recurrent cervical cancer after radical surgery and adjuvant external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) were included in this study. These patients underwent high-dose-rate (HDR) interstitial BT with free-hand placement of metal needles guided by real-time 3D-CT. Six Gy in 6 fractions were prescribed for the high-risk clinical target volume (HR-CTV). D90 and D100 for HR-CTV of BT, and the cumulative D2cc for the bladder, rectum, and sigmoid, including previous EBRT and present BT were analyzed. Treatment-related complications and 3-month tumor-response rates were investigated.
Results: The mean D90 value for HR-CTV was 52.5 ± 3.3 Gy. The cumulative D2cc for the bladder, rectum, and sigmoid were 85.6 ± 5.8, 71.6 ± 6.4, and 69.6 ± 5.9 Gy, respectively. The mean number of needles was 6.1 ± 1.5, with an average depth of 3.5 ± 0.9 cm for each application. Interstitial BT was associated with minor complications and passable tumor-response rate.
Conclusions: Interstitial BT guided by real-time 3D-CT for recurrent cervical cancer results in good dose-volume histogram (DVH) parameters. The current technique may be clinically feasible. However, long-term clinical outcomes should be further investigated.
Keywords: cervical cancer; computed tomography; interstitial brachytherapy; recurrence.