• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.477-483
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• 1998

Purpose : Radiation proctitis and radiation cystitis are frequent and problematic late complications in patients treated with radiation for the uterine cervix cancer. Authors tried to find out the better patient's position in high dose rate intracavitary radiation to reduce the radiation dose of bladder and rectum. Materials and Methods : In 13 patients, Foley Catheters were inserted to patient's bladder and rectum and were ballooned with radioopaque dye. After insertion of a tandem and two ovoids, semi-orthogonal anteroposterior and lateral films were taken in both lithotomy and supine position. The rectal point and bladder point were defined according to the criteria recommended in the ICRU Report 38 with modification. Using these films, all patients' bladder and rectal dose were calculated in both positions (the radiation dose of A point was set to 400 cGy). And also, the distance of bladder and rectum from uterine cervical os was calculated in both positions. Results : The average radiation dose of rectum was 240.7 cGy in lithotomy position and 278.3 cGy in supine position, and the average radiation dose of bladder was 303.5 cGy in lithotomy position and 255.8 cGy in supine position. After the paired t-test, the radiation dose of rectum in lithotomy position was marginally significantly lower than that in supine position, while the radiation dose of bladder in lithotomy position was significantly higher than that in supine position. On the other hand, the average distance between rectum and cervical os was 35.2 mm in lithotomy position and 32.3 mm in supine position. and the average distance between bladder and cervical os was 30.4 mm in lithotomy position and 34.0 mm in supine position. After the paired t-test. the distance between rectum and cervical os in lithotomy position was significantly longer than that in supine position, while the distance between bladder and cervical os in lithotomy position was significantly shorter than that in supine position. Conclusion : The radiation dose of bladder can be reduced in supine position and the radiation dose of rectum can be reduced in lithotomy position, so we can choose appropriate position in each patient.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.205-206
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• 2013

자궁경부암 근접치료를 시행했던 환자 10명을 대상으로 동일한 처방에 대한 기하학적 특성이 다른 Ir-192선원을 치료계획시스템을 이용하여 선량평가를 비교 분석 해 보았다.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.183-186
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• 1986

In brachytherapy of uterine cervical cancer using the high dose rate remote afterloading system, it is of prime importance to determine the position of the radiation sources and to estimate the irradiation time. However, calculation with manual method is so time consuming and laborious, that authors designed a software as an aid to intracavitary radiotherapy Planning using the personal computer to obtain the precision of treatment without being too complicated for routine use. Optimal source arrangement in combination with dose rate at each specific points and irradiation time can be easily determined using this software in several minutes.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.357-366
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• 1998

Brachytherapy is an essential part of radiotherapy for uterine cervical cancer. The low dose rate (LDR) regimen has been the major technique of intracavitary therapy for cervical cancer. However, there has been an expansion in the last 20 years of high dose rate (HDR) machines using Ir-192 sources. Since 1979, HDR brachytherapy has been used for the treatment of uterine cervical cancer in Korea. The number of institutions employing HDR has been increasing, while the number of low dose rate system has been constant. In 1995, there was a total 27 HDR brachytherapy units installed and 1258 cases of patients with cervical cancer were treated with HDR Most common regimens of HDR brachytherapy are total dose of 30-39 Gy at point A with 10-13 fractions in three fractions per week. 24-32 Gy with 6-8 fractions in two fractions per week, and 30-35 Gy with 6-7 fractions in two fractions per week. The average fractionation regimen of HDR brachytherapy is about 8 fractions of 4.1 Gy each to Point A. In Korea, treatment results for HDR brachytherapy are comparable with the LDR series and appears to be a safe and effective alternative to LDR therapy for the treatment of cervical carcinoma. Studies from the major centers report the five-year survival rate of cervical cancer as. 78-86$\%$ for Stage 1, 68-85$\%$ for stage 11, and 38-56$\%$ for Stage III. World-wide questionnaire study and Japanese questionnaire survey of multiple institutions showed no survival difference in any stages and dose-rate effect ratio (HDR/LDR) was calculated to be 0.54 to 0.58. However the optimum treatment doses and fractionation schemes appropriate to generate clinical results comparable to conventional LDR schemes have yet to be standardized. In conclusion, HDR intracavitary radiotherapy is increasingly practiced in Korea and an effective treatment modality for cervical cancer. To determine the optimum radiotherapy dose and fractionation schedule, a nation-wide prospective study is necessary in Korea. In addition, standardization of HDR application (clinical, computer algorithms, and dosimetric aspects) is necessary.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.355-361
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• 1993

Since May 1991, authors have conducted a pilot study to determine the feasibility and evaluate the effect of concurrent radiation therapy and chemotherapy with 5-FU and Cis-platinum for locally advanced cervical cancer (stage IIB-IVA). Radiation therapy consisted of external irradiation to whole pelvis (4140 cGy/23 fx) in 4.5 weeks followed by high dose rate intracavitary radiation therapy (HDR ICRT) to deliver a dose of 30 to 35 Gy to A point in 6 to 7 fractions. After the intracavitary radiation therapy, parametrial boost was delivered for B point dose of 60 Gy in Stage IIB and 65 Gy in stage IIIB. 5-FU (1000 $mg/m^2/24hr$ for 96 hour iv infusion) and Cis-platinum (20 $mg/m^2/day$ IV bolus for 3 days) were given during the second week of external RT and the second course chemotherapy administered at the first HDR ICRT with the same method as the first chemotherapy. Sixteen patients (10 stage IIB,4 stage IIIB,2 stage IVA) were registered to this protocol. Among these 16 patients, two refused treatment after 2 fractions of external irradiation, and one could not continue intracavitary irradiation because of treatment related genitourinary toxicity. So 14 patients were evaluated for toxicity and 13 patients were evaluated for response analysis. Five of 14 patients developed grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity but 4 of them recovered at the completion of treatment. One stage IIIB patient with inguinal lymph node metastasis who received higher dose of radiation in spite of initial poor performance status did not recover from gastrointestinal toxicity at the completion of treatment. And she died of distant metastasis at one month after the completion of treatment. Two of 14 evaluable patients showed weight loss, more than $10\%$ of initial weight. One patient developed grade 3 leukopenia. In this study, the average total treatment period of completely treated patients was 75 days and three of them took more than 80 days (84, 84, 89 days). Toxicities were generally acceptable and there were no treatment related death. At the last follow-up, complete response was achieved in $62\%(8/13)$ and especially of nine patients with stage IIB, eight patients showed complete response. This study suggests that concurrent radiation therapy and chemotherapy (5-FU and Cis-platinum) is tolerable and effective. Further follow-up is needed to determine whether this protocol will have a favorable impact on survival and to evaluate the late effect on normal tissues. In future, prospective randomized trials are needed to compare the standard radiation therapy alone with concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy for locally advanced cervical carcinoma.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.73-77
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• 2004

Purpose of the radio-therapy is maximize the radiation dose to the tumor while minimizing the dose to the critical organ. Carcinoma of the uterine cervix treatment are external irradiation or an interstitial brachtheraphy make use of isotope. Brachytherapy is a method of radiotherapy in advantage to achieve better local control with minimum radiation toxicity in comparison with external irradiation because radiation dose is distributed according to the inverse square low of gamma-ray emitted from the implanted sources. Authors make use of the patients data which 192Ir gives medical treatment intrcavity. Intracavitary radiation of the uterine cervix cancer, critical organ take $20\%$ below than exposure dose of A point in the ICRU report. None the less of the advice, Radiation proctitis and radiation cystitis are frequent and problematic early complications in patients treated with radiation for the uterine cervix cancer. In brachytherapy of uterine cervical cancer using a high dose rate remote afterloading system, it is of prime importance to deliver a accurate dose in each fractionated treatment by minimizing the difference between the pre-treatment planned and post-treatment calculated doses. Use of packing to reduce late complications intracavitary radiation of the uterine cervix cancer. Bladder and rectum changes exposure dose rate by radiotherphy make use of packing.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.257-263
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• 2022

In intracavitary radiotherapy, it is essential to verify the correct location of radiation source among quality control items because an incorrect location will irradiate an unnecessary dose to normal tissues. As a basic study of digital line dosimeters, this study fabricated a unit cell dosimeter based on polycrystalline mercury (II) iodide (HgI₂) and compared its performance with a diode. The study result showed that for reproducibility, the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 1.21%, satisfying the RSD evaluation criterion of within 1.5%. Considering linearity, the coefficient of determination R² showed an excellent result of 0.9997. Regarding the evaluation of distance dependence, it showed a similar trend in general with a difference of 0.035 cm for intensity 50% when compared with the inverse square value. This study suggests the applicability of a digital dosimeter for brachytherapy quality control by evaluating the performance of the HgI₂ dosimeter. This study on dosimeter for candidate photoconductor materials can be used as basic data in all areas using radiation.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.61-66
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare plans prescribed to point A with these prescribed to point H recommended by ABS (American Brachytherapy Society) in high dose rate intracavitary brachytherapy for cervical carcinoma. Materials and Methods: This study selected 103 patients who received HDR (High Dose Rate) brachytherapy using tandem and ovoids from March 2010 to January 2012. Point A, bladder point, and rectal point conform with Manchester System. Point H conforms with ABS recommendation. Also Sigmoid colon point, and vagina point were established arbitrarily. We examined distance between point A and point H. The percent dose at point A was calculated when 100% dose was prescribed to point H. Additionally, the percent dose at each reference points when dose is prescribed to point H and point A were calculated. Results: The relative dose at point A was lower when point H was located inferior to point A. The relative doses at bladder, rectal, sigmoid colon, and vagina points were higher when point H was located superior to point A, and lower when point H was located inferior to point A. Conclusion: This study found out that as point H got located much superior to point A, the absorbed dose of surrounding normal organs became higher, and as point H got located much inferior to point A, the absorbed dose of surrounding normal organs became lower. This differences dose not seem to affect the treatment. However, we suggest this new point is worth being considered for the treatment of HDR if dose distribution and absorbed dose at normal organs have large differences between prescribed to point A and H.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.63-73
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• 1988

One hundred fifty-four patients with the carcinoma of the uterine cervix were studied retrospectively to assess the result and impact of treatment at Department of Radiation Oncology, Korea University, Hae-Wha Hospital from Feb 1981 through Dec. 1986. Prior to radiotherapy, the patients were evaluated and staged by recommendation of FIGO including physical examination, pelvic examination, cystoscopy, rectosigmoidoscopy, chest X-ray, IVP. Ba enema. Also, an additional pelvic CT scan was obtained for some of the patients. The patients were treated by radiotherapy alone or adjuvant postoperative irradiation; in case of radiation therapy only, whole pelvic irradiation was given with Co-60 teletherapy unit via AP and PA parallel opposing fields or 4-oblique fields, 180 cGy per day, 5 days per week and intracavitary insertion was performed. In satges Ia, Ib, and IIa with small primary lesion, external irradiation was initially given to pelvis up to $2,000\~3,000\;cGy/2frac{1}{2}\;-3frac{1}{2}$ weeks and then intracavitary insertion was performed using Fletcher-Mini-Declos Applicator with cesium-137 cources and followed by external irradiation of $1,000\~2,000\;cGy/1frac{1}{2}\;-2frac{1}{2}$weeks via AP and PA parallel opposing fields with midline shield to spare of bladder and rectum. However, if the primary lesion is large, external irradiation was given without midline shield. More than stages IIb, the patients were treated by external beam irradiation up to 5,400cGy/30f for 6 weeks via 4-oblique portals and at the dose of 5,040cGy/28f the field was cut 5cm from the top margin for spare of small bowel, and followed by intracavitary irradiation, If there was residual tumor an additional dose of $900\~l,200cGy/5\~7f$ was given to parametrium and/or residual tumor area. Total dose of radiation to A and B-point were as follows; A-point; In early stages, Ia, Ib, IIa; $8,000\~9,000$ B-point $5,000\~6,000 cGy$ A-point; In advanced stages IIb, IIIa, IIIb; $9,000\~10,000$ B-point $60,000\~7,000cGy$ The results were obtained and as fellows; 1 The patients distribution according to FIGO staging system were stage Ia 6, Ib 27, IIa 28, IIb 54, IIIa 12, IIIb 18, and stage IVa 9. 2. Value of CT scan were demonstration of cervix tumor mass, parametrial and pelvic side wall tumor spread, pelvic and inguinal lymph nodes metastases, and hydronephrosis. Three dimensional quantitative demonstration of tumor volume is also important in planning radiation therapy. Another advantage of CT scan was detection of recurrent tumor after radiation or surgery. 3. Local control rate of tumor according to the size was $91.3\%$ for less than 5cm in size and $44.6\%$ in tumor over 5cm (p<0.0068). 4. Thirty out of 50 recurrent sites has locoregional failures and 17 cases has distant metastases. And the para-aortic lymph nodes were the most common site for distant metastases. 5. The most common complication was temporal rectal bleeding which was controlled most by conservative management. However, 4 patients required for endoscopic cauterization. 6. The 5-year survival rates showed; stage la and Ib $95\%,\;stage\;IIa\;81\%\;stage\;lIb\;67\%,\;stage\;IIIa\;37.7\%,\;stage\;IIIb\;23\%$ and 3-year survival rate of stage IVa showed $11.6%$, retrospectively.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2009

For HDR intracavitary brachytherapy with ovoids and a tandem, we compared the dose discrepancy of treatment plans using two different Ir-192 sources (microSelectron, Varian) and generated on two different treatment planning systems (PLATO, BrachyVision). The treatment plans of ten patient treated from Oct. 2007 to Jan. 2008 were selected for these comparisons. For the comparison of dose calculation using different sources, the average discrepancies were $-0.91{\pm}0.09%$, $-0.27{\pm}0.07%$, $0.22{\pm}0.39%$, and $0.88{\pm}0.37%$ in total treatment time and at B-point and ICRU bladder and rectum reference point, respectively. Comparing the two systems, the average dose discrepancies between treatment planning programs were $-0.22{\pm}0.42%$, $-0.25{\pm}0.29%$, $-0.23{\pm}0.63%$, and $-0.17{\pm}0.76%$, and the average dose discrepancies between positioning methods (PLATO with film and BrachyVision with digitial image) were $-0.61{\pm}0.59%$, $-0.77{\pm}0.45%$, $-0.72{\pm}1.70%$, and $0.35{\pm}2.82%$ at A-point, B-point, and ICRU bladder and rectum reference points, respectively. The rectal dose discrepancies between two systems were reached 5.87%. The difference in the dwell position expected by each TPS are mainly affected by the differences in the positioning method in TPSs and have an effect on dose calculations of rectal and bladder located in AP direction.