The hazy dawn of brachytherapy

The discovery of radium by Pierre and Marie Curie in December 1898 opened a new era in science and within a few years provided medicine with a new mea ns of tumor treatment. Their personal contribution to the start and early d evelopment of clinical applications should not be overlooked. The Curies di d not limit their support to providing radium sources to medical pioneers b ut took a deep interest in the horizons of radiumtherapy. Pierre was one of the first to search for and demonstrate a biological effect of radium radi ation. He investigated the radioactivity of the waters of hydrotherapeutic resorts. Marie took care of the measurement of the medical sources personal ly, convinced that the result of the treatment depends on the precise knowl edge of the amount of radium applied. Her perseverance resulted in the esta blishment of the Institut du Radium (1909) in which, besides the physico-ch emical laboratory, a biological department was set up. The latter became th e Fondation Curie (1920), a leading medical center of treatment and trainin g, with an integrated team of physicists, radiobiologists and clinicians le d by Regaud. One hundred years after the discovery of radium, patients bene fit today from the extensive clinical experience that has been collected ov er the years and from sophisticated developments in application techniques, dosimetry and quality assurance; the professional risk has been precisely assessed and the improvements in material and procedure have enabled the me dical personnel to work in hazard-free conditions. This outcome results fro m the continuous progress that the pioneers gave impulse to. This paper int ends to recall their efforts and achievements, as well as the difficulties and the problems they encountered during the first 2 decades when the sturd y foundations of brachytherapy were built. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Irelan d Ltd. All rights reserved.