Brachytherapy
Volume 7, Issue 3 , Pages 270-275, July 2008

High-dose-rate brachytherapy in a large squamous cell carcinoma of the hand

  • Maria Grazia Fabrini

      Affiliations

    • Department of Oncology, Pisa University, and Division of Radiotherapy, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. U. O. Radioterapia, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana, via Roma, 67, I-56125 Pisa, Italy. Tel.: +39-050-993456; fax: +39-050-992830.
    • ,
  • Franco Perrone

      Affiliations

    • Health Physics Division, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy
    • ,
  • Mario De Liguoro

      Affiliations

    • Department of Oncology, Pisa University, and Division of Radiotherapy, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy
    • ,
  • Luca Cionini

      Affiliations

    • Department of Oncology, Pisa University, and Division of Radiotherapy, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy

Received 19 February 2008; received in revised form 16 April 2008; accepted 17 April 2008. published online 03 July 2008.

Abstract 

Purpose

High-dose-rate 192Ir-based brachytherapy can be used as an exclusive treatment of large skin tumors when teletherapy or surgery is not feasible. A case of an extended inoperable skin epithelioma of the hand is reported; the lesion involved the first finger, the tenar, the palm, and the back.

Methods and materials

A detailed description of an individual case is reported. A customized mold was created for the patient, to administer a fractionated brachytherapy treatment in a reproducible way.

Results

A total dose of 50Gy was administered in 10 fractions, after a time schedule of three fractions per week. The treatment was well tolerated and the acute effects (mainly, epitheliolysis) were resolved completely within a month after the treatment.

Conclusions

Nine months after the treatment, the malignant lesion completely disappeared and the cosmetic results are quite satisfactory. Therefore, we conclude that the treatment technique is well adaptable to any particular geometry and that the fractionation scheme has proven to be well tolerated and effective in tumor eradication.

Keywords: Squamous cell carcinoma, Epithelioma, Skin, Brachytherapy, HDR, Hand

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PII: S1538-4721(08)00561-8

doi:10.1016/j.brachy.2008.04.004

Brachytherapy
Volume 7, Issue 3 , Pages 270-275, July 2008

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