Interstitial irradiation of brain tumors: a review

As an adjuvant to surgery, radiation therapy has consistently proven to be the most successful form of treatment for primary and secondary malignant brain tumors and possibly for inoperable benign tumors. Because the risk of radiation necrosis of normal brain limits the amount of radiation that can be given by external beam therapy at conventional dose rates, interstitial radiation of brain tumors is a logical alternative treatment approach. We discuss the radiobiological advantages of low dose rate irradiation and intratumoral placement of sources that make interstitial irradiation an attractive treatment for brain tumors and review the history of clinical brachytherapy for intracranial neoplasia.