[Interstitial curietherapy with iridium 192 applied to small cancers of the rectum (author's transl)]

Intracavity irradiation aimed at curing cancers of the rectum mainly calls on contact radiotherapy but also on interstitial curietherapy. Iridium curietherapy has replaced Radium-therapy owing to the better homogeneousness of its' action and precise method of assay. It uses a 2 pronged fork containing 2 Iridium wires which can be very simply placed in position. It is applied on the one hand to the base of the ulcerated tumour, after abraision by contactotherapy and on the other hand as a method of prophylactic irradiation after exeresis of a malignant or degenerated polyp where the scar is badly adapted to contacto-therapy.