Now is it time to implement spacers in cervical cancer brachytherapy?

Murakami, Naoya; Okuma, Kae; Kato, Tomoyasu; Igaki, Hiroshi

Now is it time to implement spacers in cervical cancer brachytherapy?

Files

rrac031.pdf (214.3 KB)

Authors

Murakami, Naoya

Okuma, Kae

Kato, Tomoyasu

Igaki, Hiroshi

Issue Date

2022-06-20

Type

Article

Language

en_US

Keywords

Uterine Cervical Cancer , Image-Guided Adaptive Brachytherapy (IGABT) , Spacer

Abstract

Although the international study on MRI-guided brachytherapy in cervical cancer (EMBRACE-I) demonstrated excellent local control regardless of the T stage, up to 14.6% of grade 3–5 late radiation-related toxicities were observed, which is unacceptable. While the efficacy of hydrogel spacers has been established in prostate radiotherapy, its implementation speed in cervical cancer brachytherapy is relatively slow, despite the fact that several articles have reported its efficacy in cervical cancer brachytherapy. The authors believe that using a spacer in cervical cancer brachytherapy and brachytherapy for other gynecologic malignancies will reduce late radiation-related toxicity and improve patients’ quality of life; therefore, its rapid implementation is required.

Citation

Murakami, N., Okuma, K., Kato, T., & Igaki, H. (2022). Now is it time to implement spacers in cervical cancer brachytherapy?. Journal of radiation research, 63(4), 696–698. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrr/rrac031

Publisher

Journal of Radiation Research