[Brachytherapy as monotherapy for prostate cancer with the use of temporary sources]

The aim of this study was to investigate disease-free sur- vival and toxicity of high-dose rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) in patients with prostate cancer at low risk of progression in monotherapy. With the use of advanced methods of imaging and planning brachytherapy allows achieving a high accuracy of radiotherapy delivering the adequate dose to the prostate and in the same time minimizing the toxic effects from adjacent organs. Brachytherapy by Ir-192 was carried out in 20 patients, in the form of monotherapy 3 fractions in a single focal dose 10 Gy with a two-week interruption between fractions to a total focal dose 30 Gy. Biologically effective dose was 230 Gy. The percentage of the prescribed dose on organ-target (V100) was not less than 95% (average 97.1 %). The critical dose on the urethra and the rectum was 110% and 70% of the prescribed dose respectively. The early and late radiation toxic reactions from genitourinary system and gastrointestinal tract in all of them were marked only as I grade. There were no adverse events of II-IV grades. Therefore HDR-BT as monotherapy has proved to be a safe and effective method of treatment prostate cancer patients of low risk of progression. Disease-free 5-year survival was 100% while minimizing toxic reactions from adjacent organs.