[A survey of clinical applications of the remote afterloading machine in Japan]

This survey was performed to ascertain how usefully the remote afterloading machine with small radiative sources has been applied. The following results were obtained through questionaires sent to 147 hospitals in Japan: These machines are mainly used for the treatment of uterine cervix cancer, and the three channels of 60Co sources are mostly used with high dose-rate. The frequency of the treatment is 50-200 times per year in 60% of the hospitals. In only 15 hospitals is this machine routinely used for malignant tumors of the nasopharynx, paranasal sinuses, esophagus and bile tract as well as uterine cervix cancer. It is important to develop various kinds of accessories for the remote afterloading machine with high dose rate, in order to its extend the applications.