Intraoperative high dose rate brachytherapy during breast-conserving surgery: A prospective pilot study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate feasibility, quality of life, toxicity, and cosmetic outcome for intraoperative breast cancer brachytherapy after breast-conserving surgery using high dose rate brachytherapy. METHODS: Fifty-two consecutive women, ⩾50 years old, diagnosed with a unifocal non-lobular breast cancer ⩽3 cm, N0, underwent breast-conserving surgery and sentinel node biopsy. Twenty-five women received intraoperative brachytherapy pre-pathology at primary surgery and the others post-pathology, during a second procedure. An applicator, connected to a high dose rate afterloader, was used. Two of the women were excluded due to metastases found per-operatively at a frozen section from the sentinel node. Quality of life was evaluated using two validated health questionnaires. Treatment toxicity was documented according to the LENT-SOMA scale by two oncologists. The cosmetic result was evaluated using the validated freely available software BCCT.core 2.0. RESULTS: The clinical procedure worked out well logistically. Seven women received supplementary external radiotherapy due to insufficient margins and, in one case, poor adaptation of the breast parenchyma to the applicator. No serious adverse effects from irradiation were registered. The results from the health questionnaires showed no major differences compared with reference groups from the Swedish population. Only two women were registered as having a "poor" cosmetic result while a majority of the women had a "good" outcome. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study shows that intraoperative brachytherapy is a feasible procedure and encourages further trials evaluating its role in treatment of early breast cancer.

Time-resolved in vivo dosimetry for source tracking in brachytherapy.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that brachytherapy source tracking can be realized with in vivo dosimetry. This concept could enable real-time treatment monitoring. METHODS: In vivo dosimetry was incorporated in the clinical routine during high-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy at Aarhus University Hospital. The dosimetry was performed with a radioluminescent crystal positioned in a dedicated brachytherapy needle in the prostate. The dose rate was recorded every 50-100 ms during treatment and analyzed retrospectively. The measured total delivered dose and dose rates for each dwell position with dwell times >0.7 s were compared with expected values. Furthermore, the distance between the source and dosimeter, which was derived from the measured dose rates, was compared with expected values. The measured dose rate pattern in each needle was used to determine the most likely position of the needle relative to the dosimeter. RESULTS: In total, 305 needles and 3239 dwell positions were analyzed based on 20 treatments. The measured total doses differed from the expected values by -4.7 ± 8.4% (1SD) with range (-17% to 12%). It was possible to determine needle shifts for 304 out of 305 needles. The mean radial needle shift between imaging and treatment was 0.2 ± 1.1 mm (1SD), and the mean longitudinal shift was 0.3 ± 2.0 mm (1SD). CONCLUSION: Time-resolved in vivo dosimetry can be used to provide geometric information about the treatment progression of afterloading brachytherapy. This information may provide a clear indication of errors and uncertainties during a treatment and, therefore, enables real-time treatment monitoring.

3D image-based adapted high-dose-rate brachytherapy in cervical cancer with and without interstitial needles: measurement of applicator shift between imaging and dose delivery.

PURPOSE: Using 3D image-guided adaptive brachytherapy for cervical cancer treatment, it often means that patients are transported and moved during the treatment procedure. The purpose of this study was to determine the intra-fractional longitudinal applicator shift in relation to the high risk clinical target volume (HR-CTV) by comparing geometries at imaging and dose delivery for patients with and without needles. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Measurements were performed in 33 patients (71 fractions), where 25 fractions were without and 46 were with interstitial needles. Gold markers were placed in the lower part of the cervix as a surrogate for HR-CTV, enabling distance measurements between HR-CTV and the ring applicator. Shifts of the applicator relative to the markers were determined using planning computed tomography (CT) images used for planning, and the radiographs obtained at dose delivery. Differences in the physical D90 for HR-CTV due to applicator shifts were simulated individually in the treatment planning system to provide the relative dose variation. RESULTS: The maximum distances of the applicator shifts, in relation to the markers, were 3.6 mm (caudal), and -2.5 mm (cranial). There was a significant displacement of -0.7 mm (SD = 0.9 mm) without needles, while with needles there was no significant shift. The relative dose variation showed a significant increase in D90 HR-CTV of 1.6% (SD = 2.6%) when not using needles, and no significant dose variation was found when using needles. CONCLUSIONS: The results from this study showed that there was a small longitudinal displacement of the ring applicator and a significant difference in displacement between using interstitial needles or not.