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[Endobronchial brachytherapy: the Saint-Louis Hospital experience]
C Hennequin1, J Trédaniel, C Durdux
1Service de cancérologie-radiothérapie, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France.
Purpose:
During the evolution of lung cancer, bronchial obstruction is often noticed and is sometimes responsible for serious symptoms. Several methods of desobstruction can be proposed, including brachytherapy.
Materials And Methods:
One hundred forty-nine patients presenting with endobronchial brachytherapy were included into the study. Seventy-three were treated with curative intent, 47 with palliative intent and 29 with a combination of external irradiation and brachytherapy. We usually delivered a series of two 7-Gy fractions (1 cm from the catheter), the treatment being repeated one, two or three times.
Results:
When all symptoms were taken into account, respiratory function improvement was present in 79% of the patients. Among the 132 tumors that could be evaluated via a new endoscopy 2 months after treatment, 64 (48.5%) were in complete histological remission. The median survival was 14.4 months for the patients treated with curative intent. Eleven massive hemoptysies and 13 radiation bronchitis were observed.
Conclusion:
These results confirm the feasibility and good results related to endobronchial brachytherapy, though controlled studies are needed to better define its place in the therapeutic strategy of bronchial carcinomas.