Dosimetric and technical aspects of intraoperative I-125 brachytherapy for stage I non-small cell lung cancer

Initial treatment outcome data from our institution for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients have shown that sublobar resection in combination with iodine-125 (I-125) brachytherapy is associated with recurrence rates of 2.0%, compared to 18.6% with sublobar resection alone. In this work, the technical and dosimetric aspects required to execute this procedure from the radiation oncology perspective as well as an analysis of the dose distributions of patients treated with this technique are presented. In this treatment technique, I-125 seeds in vicryl suture are embedded into vicryl mesh and surgically inserted providing a 2.0 cm margin on each side of the resection staple line. A nomogram is developed to determine the suture spacing in the vicryl mesh, as a function of seed activity in order to deliver 120 Gy at a distance of 0.5 cm above and below the seed array. Post-operative dosimetry consists of a CT-based planning and dose volume analysis. Dose distributions, dose volume histograms and mean dose data for lung are analysed in a group of patients. Dosimetric results show significant lung sparing with only a small volume of lung irradiated for all patients with mean lung dose values ranging from 1.5 Gy to 5.4 Gy. Lung brachytherapy with I-125 at the time of sublobar resection is a highly conformal option of dose delivery for stage I NSCLC patients with compromised physiologic reserve. Patient-related toxicity clinically measured by loss of pulmonary function and radiation-induced pneumonitis have not been linked to this procedure.