Abstract: Abstract Brachytherapy is a form of radiotherapy whereby a radioactive source is used inside or at short distance from the tumor. There are three different forms of brachytherapy: interstitial, intracavitary, and skin therapy. In interstitial brachytherapy, the radioactive sources are implanted inside and throughout the tumor volume; in intracavitary brachytherapy the sources are placed in the body cavities very close to the tumor; while in skin therapy the sources are placed on the skin surface. Conventionally, brachytherapy implants have delivered the radiation at a low dose rate (dose rates of <1 Gy/h). Low dose‐rate (LDR) interstitial implants can be temporary (meaning that the radioactive sources are left in place for a period of time, usually a few days, and then removed) or permanent (left in place without removal), while intracavitary implants are temporary. The advent of methods to deliver the dose at a much higher dose rates, in the range of 1–5 Gy/min, brought an increase in the use of brachytherapy. All high dose‐rate (HDR) brachytherapy treatments are temporary and treatments are administered using discrete fractions.
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-04-04
Language: en
Type: other
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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