Clinical experiences with intraoperative radiotherapy of locally advanced cancers

Clinical results of intraoperative radiotherapy in neoplasms of the stomach, colon, pancreas, biliary tract, bladder, prostate, lung, mediastinum and brain, and soft-tissue sarcomas are reported. After resectable lesions were removed at surgery, residual cancer nests were sterilized by irradiation before surgical closure. Since the lesion can be exposed directly to radiation and sensitive normal structures are positioned outside the treatment volume, a cancerocidal dose can be safely and precisely delivered to the cancer without affecting normal structure. The great advantage of the intraoperative electron beam therapy lies in the treatment of radioresistant tumors and lesions located near radiosensitive organs. Several patients with unresectable tumors were treated by the intraoperative technique and are alive after more than 5 years.