Long-term outcomes with high-dose-rate brachytherapy for the management of base of tongue cancer

National Cancer Database Analysis of the effect of brachytherapy on overall survival in patients with base of tongue cancer

“…With a median follow‐up time of 3.1 years, no patient in this cohort developed osteoradionecrosis of the mandible, and only 3 patients developed grade 3 or 4 mucositis. In a prospective, nonrandomized clinical trial, Takácsi‐Nagy et al evaluated the outcomes of 60 patients with BOT cancer treated with EBRT (mean dose 62 Gy) and an HDR boost (mean dose 17 Gy). OS at 5 years was 47%.…”

“…With a median follow-up time of 3.1 years, no patient in this cohort developed osteoradionecrosis of the mandible, and only 3 patients developed grade 3 or 4 mucositis. In a prospective, nonrandomized clinical trial, Takácsi-Nagy et al 2 Although no prospective randomized studies have compared outcomes between EBRT and EBRT + BT, single institution studies have retrospectively reviewed outcomes of patients treated with EBRT alone vs those treated with EBRT plus a BT boost. 11,30 Chen et al report 30 year outcomes of patients at a single institution treated with EBRT + BT vs EBRT (2D or 3D technique) vs EBRT (IMRT technique).…”

“…Approximately 17 500 people in the United States are diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer every year . Carcinoma of the base of tongue (BOT) represents approximately 30% of all oropharyngeal cancers . Treatment options for BOT cancer include surgery, external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), brachytherapy (BT), chemotherapy, or a combination of these treatments .…”

“…2 Treatment options for BOT cancer include surgery, external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), brachytherapy (BT), chemotherapy, or a combination of these treatments. 2 While modern EBRT techniques, such as intensitymodulated radiotherapy (IMRT) can deliver a conformal dose to the target, a low integral dose to the surrounding normal tissue is unavoidable, which may increase the risk of secondary malignancies. In addition, with EBRT, patients may experience radiation-induced side effects including: xerostomia, osteoradionecrosis, fibrosis, trismus, dysphagia, odynophagia, and dysgeusia.…”

Image guided high-dose-rate brachytherapy versus volumetric modulated arc therapy for head and neck cancer: A comparative analysis of dosimetry for target volume and organs at risk

“…Brachytherapy (BT) with or without external beam RT (EBRT) can play an essential role in the treatment of certain tumor localizations in the H&N area except cases with bone invasion or proximity of large vessels, delivering an ablative dose to the target volume while sparing the critical and normal tissues - due to the rapid dose fall-off - which is not safely feasible with EBRT alone. 1 , 2 , 3 Image guided high-dose-rate BT (IGBT) with computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been implemented improving the efficacy of BT. 4 IGBT decreases irradiated doses to critical structures without compromising target coverage.…”