Brachytherapy may be used alone or in combination with external radiotherapy. This decision is usually made based on the location, size, shape, and stage of disease. Brachytherapy can be delivered in a body cavity or in the tissue, which is referred to as intracavitary and interstitial brachytherapy, respectively.
The International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) defines brachytherapy according to the dose rate as follows: Low Dose-Rate (LDR): 40 to 200 cGy/hr; and High Dose-Rate (HDR): > 1200 cGy/hr. Of note, the usual dose rate employed in current HDR brachytherapy units is about 10,000-30,000 cGy/hr.
Both HDR and LDR brachytherapy when used appropriately, have shown clinical success. HDR delivers the treatment in minutes. As such, it is often done in an outpatient setting. HDR brachytherapy has been successfully used in the treatment of the vaginal vault in endometrial cancer and in cervical cancer. HDR catheters can also be implanted in the tumor to deliver an interstitial brachytherapy boost.
Some brachytherapy techniques we offer: MammoSite for Breast Cancer Prostate seed implants Endobronchial HDR for lung cancer
Vaginal cuff HDR for endometrial cancer
LDR for cervical cancer
LDR and HDR for sarcoma
Department of Radiation Oncology
The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
600 Moye Blvd.
Greenville, NC 27834
Phone (252) 744-2900 / Fax (252) 744-2812
