USES OF BRACHYTHERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH HE AD AND NECK-CANCER

Surgery, conventional radiation therapy, and chemotherapy are establis hed methods of treating patients with head and neck cancer. Convention al radiation therapy is often ineffective in treating recurrent tumors . Modern methods of interstitial and intracavitary brachytherapy chang e this view. Methods and patients: In our series of 37 patients with r ecurrent head and neck cancer, we encountered no technical difficultie s in placing indwelling catheters, needles, or applicators. We treated tumors of the nose, epipharynx, tongue, base of the tongue, trachea, esophagus, and cervical lymph nodes. In these patients, we successfull y irradiated the tumor with doses up to 30 Gray. A case history is pre sented to demonstrate the combined action of intratumoral interferon a lfa injection and interstitial brachytherapy on a tumor of the base of the tongue. Results: Total remission rate 32/36 patients, 14 complete remission, 18 partial remission. Main complications were bleeding in one patient due to a vascular lesion and fistula formation. Conclusion : Brachytherapy is well suited for treating recurrent tumors of the he ad and neck region in individual patients.