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Updated: May 1, 2026

Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Gynecologic Cancer
Published on: April 17, 2012
Dosimetric Comparison of Intracavitary Versus Combined Intracavitary-Interstitial Image-Guided Brachytherapy in
Xi Yang1,2, Bo Zhao3, Guiyong Yu3
1Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
Purpose:
The present study aimed to compare the dose distributions between conventional three-catheter intracavitary (IC) brachytherapy and combined intracavitary-interstitial (IC/IS) brachytherapy in the management of locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC).
Materials And Methods:
A retrospective dosimetric analysis was performed using data from 78 patients with cervical cancer who underwent high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy. To evaluate the dosimetric advantages of IC/IS brachytherapy, patients were stratified into two groups: those treated with IC brachytherapy and those treated with IC/IS brachytherapy. Dosimetric parameters between the two groups were compared.
Results:
In the IC/IS brachytherapy group, V150 values for the high-risk clinical target volume (HR-CTV) were significantly higher than those in the IC group (p < 0.001). Subsequent comparison of organ-at-risk (OAR) dosimetric parameters revealed that D0.1cc, D1cc, D2cc, D5cc, and D10cc values for the bladder and sigmoid colon were significantly lower in the IC/IS group than in the IC group (all p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Compared with conventional IC brachytherapy, combined IC/IS brachytherapy provides superior HR-CTV coverage with higher doses while simultaneously reducing radiation exposure to the bladder and sigmoid colon, provided that the D90 dose constraint for the HR-CTV is met.

