Skip to main content
. 2012 Mar 6;7:30. doi: 10.1186/1748-717X-7-30

Table 3.

Results concerning survival achieved with permanent and temporary iodine-125 brachytherapy in patients with various brain tumours.

Study Number of patients &
type of iodine-125 seeds
Dose, dose rate, activity Diagnoses (number of patients) & additional percutaneous radiotherapy (pRT) 6 months-survival rate 9 months-survival rate 12 months-survival rate 18 months-survival rate 2 year-survival rate 3 year-survival rate 4 year-survival rate 5 year-survival rate 8 year-survival rate 10 year-survival rate 15 year-survival rate Median survival
Mundinger
1980 [4]
221 iodine-125 & iridium-192 Astrocytomas I (55) 72% 52%
Astrocytomas II (76) 69% 44%
Astrocytomas III (34) 66% 47%
Oligodendrogliomas II/III (26) 65% 27%
Glioblastomas (17)
Germinomas (13) 19% 30%

Leibel
1984 [194]
43 temporary 80-120Gy Recurrent primary tumours
preirradiated
> 18 months

Wara
1985 [189]
temporary Recurrent malignant gliomas 18 months

Leibel
1985 [195]
43 temporary 80-120Gy Recurrent primary tumours
preirradiated
18 months

Leibel
1986 [111]
77 temporary 50-120Gy Recurrent tumours:
Astrocytomas III (42) 49% 22 months
Glioblastomas (35)
all preirradiated
26% 17 months

Gutin
1987 [110]
41 temporary 57.4-120Gy Recurrent tumours:
25-100cGy/h Astrocytomas III (23) 35 months
30-40mCi Glioblastomas (18)
preirradiated (44-70.5Gy)
8 months

Wright
1987 [47]
14 temporary 100-280Gy New tumours (12) 2-32 months
2 permanent 15-30cGy/h
6-144mCi
Additional pRT (45Gy)
Recurrent tumours (4)
Preirradiated
Glioblastomas (12)

Willis
1988 [46]
17 temporary New: New glioblastomas (5) 100% 75% 25%
60Gy Additional pRT (50.4Gy)
35-64cGy/h
34-239mCi
Recurrent: Recurrent tumours (12) 93% 60% 50% 38%
80Gy Astrocytomas III (8)
30-65cGy/h
122-320mCi
Glioblastomas (4)
preirradiated (50.4-66Gy)

Leibel
1988 [44]
95 temporary 50-120Gy
Recurrent tumours: 55% 40% 20 months
Astrocytomas III (50) 30% 15% 12 months
Glioblastomas (45)
preirradiated

Prados
1989 [158]
14 temporary 50cGy/h
10-40mCi
Metastases
preirradiated
18 months

Etou
1989 [93]
56 temporary & permanent 90-100Gy Paediatric tumours:
Astrocytomas I (36) 86% 58% 22%
Astrocytomas II (14) 79% 36% 21%
Astrocytomas III (6) 33% 17% 17%

Malkin
1989 [127]
21 temporary 60Gy Astrocytomas III (2)
36cGy/h Glioblastomas (19) 6 months
79-495mCi Recurrent tumours (10):
Preirradiated

Yakar
1989 [159]
50 temporary 55-60Gy New tumours: 11 months (mean)
40cGy/h Astrocytomas III (3)
4-299mCi Glioblastomas (17)
Additional pRT (50-60Gy)
Recurrent tumours: 13 months
Astrocytomas III (5)
Glioblastomas (12)
Preirradiated
Metastases (13) 8 months (mean)

Leibel
1989 [45]
95 temporary 52.7-150Gy Recurrent tumours:
20-90cGy/h Astrocytomas III (50) 46% 28% 19 months
27-372mCi Glioblastomas (45)
preirradiated (40-72Gy)
22% 8% 12 months

Larson
1990 [81]
128 temporary 46-120Gy New tumours:
25-100cGy/h Astrocytomas III (20) 51 months
Glioblastomas (13) 22 months
Additional pRT (60Gy)
Recurrent tumours:
Astrocytomas III (50) 45% 28% 19 months
Glioblastomas (45)
Preirradiated
22% 8% 12 months

Bernstein
1990 [107]
46 temporary New: New tumours:
60Gy Astrocytomas III (23) 14 months
Additional pRT (50Gy)
Recurrent: Recurrent tumours:
70Gy Astrocytomas III (18) 10 months
21.8-125cGy/h 93-599mCi Metastases (3)
Radiation-induced tumours (2)
preirradiated

Loeffler
1990 [134]
35 temporary 38-55Gy Glioblastomas (35) 87% 57%
30-60cGy/h
20-50mCi
Additional pRT (59.4Gy)

Gutin
1990 [109]
55 temporary 50Gy Astrocytomas III (25) 36 months
Glioblastomas (30)
Additional pRT (60Gy)
20 months

Gutin
1991 [23]
63 temporary 50-60Gy Astrocytomas III (29) 36 months
40-60cGy/h
10-40mCi
Glioblastomas (34)
Additional pRT (60Gy)
20 months

Clark
1991 [108]
25 temporary 60Gy Astrocytomas III (4) 30 months
Glioblastomas (21)
Additional pRT
21 months

Loeffler
1991 [135]
25 temporary 39-64Gy Recurrent Glioblastomas (25) 42% 30% 15% 10 months

Scharfen
1991 [113]
334 temporary 37-150Gy New tumours:
25-100cGy/h Astrocytomas III (80) 74%
Glioblastomas (117) 33%
Additional pRT
Recurrent tumours:
Astrocytomas III (70) 41%
Glioblastomas (67) 23%

Zamorano
1992 [160]
64 temporary Temporary: New tumours: 75% 47% 15 months
50 permanent 60Gy Astrocytomas III
40cGy/h Glioblastomas
Additional pRT (50Gy)
Permanent: pRT→temporary (25) 59% 30% 14 months
81-143Gy permanent→pRT (19) 79% 59%
4-7cGy/h pRT→permanent (9) 100% 50% 13 months
permanent only (9) 100%
Recurrent tumours: 38% 13% 10 months
temporary (23) 39% 10% 10 months
permanent (11) 36% 36% 9 months
Metastases:
temporary (16) 44% 28% 10 months
permanent (2) 44% 25% 10 months

Zamorano 1992 [161] 50 temporary 55-60Gy New tumours: 11 months (mean)
40cGy/h Astrocytomas III (3)
4-299mCi Glioblastomas (17)
Additional pRT (50-60Gy) 13 months
Recurrent tumours:
Astrocytomas III (5)
Glioblastomas (12)
Preirradiated
Metastases (13) 8 months (mean)

Sneed
1992 [145]
206 temporary New: New tumours:
42-76Gy Astrocytomas III (29) 36 months
Glioblastomas (34) 20 months
Additional pRT (60Gy)
Recurrent: Recurrent tumours:
53-150Gy Astrocytomas III (50) 19 months
20-90cGy/h Glioblastomas (45) 12 months
Preirradiated
Hyperthermia: Recurrent tumours:
33-63Gy Astrocytomas III (16) 81% 65%
Glioblastomas (25) 45% 11 months
Metastases (7)
Plus hyperthermia
10 months

Yakar
1992 [115]
62 temporary Temporary: New tumours: 40% 14 months
60Gy Astrocytomas III (7) 43% 13 months
40cGy/h Glioblastomas (18) 39% 15 months
Additional pRT
Recurrent tumours: 23% 11 months
Astrocytomas III (8) 37% 9 months
Glioblastomas (13) 8% 11 months
Metastases (16) 25% 10 months
55 permanent Permanent: New tumours: 73% 37 months
100Gy Astrocytomas III (36) 79% 37 months
5cGy/h Glioblastomas (5) 27% 14 months
Recurrent tumours: 42% 14 months
Astrocytomas III (7) 86% 23 months
Glioblastomas (4) 0% 6 months
Metastases (3) 33% 4 months

Scharfen
1992 [25]
307 temporary 37-120Gy New tumours:
19-140cGy/h Non-glioblastomas (68):
38-453mCi Astrocytomas I/II 94% 73% 52 months
Astrocytomas III 85% 47% 33 months
Glioblastomas (106) 86% 22% 20 months
Additional pRT (60Gy)
Recurrent tumours:
Non-glioblastomas (67):
Astrocytomas I/II 68% 30% 19 months
Astrocytomas III 49% 24% 12 months
Glioblastomas (66) 50% 15% 11 months

Prados
1992 [112]
88 temporary 50-60Gy Astrocytomas III (32) 32% 37 months
40-60cGy/h
10-40mCi
Glioblastomas (56)
Additional pRT (40-77Gy)
29% 14% 20 months

Ostertag
1992 [95]
194 temporary 345 permanent 30-70Gy Astrocytomas I (106) 77%
10cGy/h Astrocytomas II (251) 65% 64%
Oligoastrocytomas (44) 80%
Oligodendrogliomas (29) 58%
Astrocytomas III (75) 49% 36% 8 months
Glioblastomas (34) 48% 16% 6 months

Kreth
1993 [162]
81 temporary 60Gy New metastases:
10cGy/h WBRT (40Gy) + seed (38) 17 months
Seed only (22) 12 months
WBRT (40Gy) only (49) 8 months
Recurrent metastases:
seed only (21)
preirradiated
6 months

Fontanesi
1993 [118]
26 temporary 60Gy Astrocytomas III (9) 20 months
40-45cGy/h
7-25mCi
Glioblastomas (17)
Additional pRT (66Gy@2x1.1Gy/d)
13 months

Voges
1993 [82]
1 temporary 40Gy Ependymomas (1) 100%
3cGy/h
21.4mCi

Kreth
1993 [104]
134 temporary 50-60Gy Astrocytomas II (251) 64%
190 permanent 10cGy/h Oligoastrocytomas II (44) 80%
Oligodendrogliomas II (29) 58%

Sneed
1994 [136]
34 temporary 42-66Gy Glioblastomas (34) 91% 40% 18% 9% 21 months
30-60cGy/h Additional pRT (56-60Gy)

Wen
1994 [137]
56 temporary 50Gy Glioblastomas (56) 83% 34% 27% 16% 18 months
30-60cGy/h
20-50mCi
Additional pRT (59.4Gy @1.8Gy/d or 40Gy@2x2Gy/d)

Bernstein
1994 [79]
46 temporary 70Gy Recurrent tumours: 11 months
68cGy/h Astrocytomas II (2)
293mCi Astrocytomas III (12)
Glioblastomas (32)
preirradiated (50-60Gy)

Ryken
1994 [126]
15 temporary 60Gy or 80-300Gy Recurrent tumours: 6 months
5 permanent 40cGy/h Astrocytomas III (9)
Glioblastomas (11)
Preirradiated (60Gy)

Hitchon
1994 [125]
26 Astrocytomas III or Glioblastomas (26) 18 months

Fernandez
1994 [116]
73 permanent 100-120Gy Astrocytomas III or Glioblastomas (73) 82% > 31 months
4-7cGy/h Additional pRT (50-60Gy)
(16% before, 68% concurrent, 15% not)
> 23 months

Kitchen
1994 [144]
23 temporary 50Gy Recurrent astrocytomas III or glioblastomas (23) 6 months
40-230mCi Preirradiated (50-60Gy)

Gaspar
1994 [119]
72 permanent 100Gy Astrocytomas III (45) 80% 70% 62%
5cGy/h Glioblastomas (27)
Additional pRT (50-60Gy)
(62% before, 24% after, 14% not)
80% 55% 40%

Scerrati
1994 [105]
32 iridium-192 43Gy or 90Gy Astrocytomas I (2) 83% 57% 39% 112 months
4 iodine-125
14 temporary 22 permanent
32cGy/h or 42cGy/h Astrocytomas II (23)
Oligodendrogliomas (11)
Additional pRT (30-54Gy)

Zamorano
1995 [123]
72 permanent 5cGy/h Astrocytomas III (45) 84% 75% 65%
Glioblastomas (27)
Additional pRT (50-60Gy)
(24% before, 63% after, 14% not)
80% 53% 26 months

Chamberlain
1995 [185]
45-51Gy Recurrent tumours:
16 temporary 50cGy/h Astrocytomas III (3) 9 months
Oligodendrogliomas III (1)
Glioblastomas (11)
Ependymomas (1)
Preirradiated (54-60Gy)

Kreth
1995 [68]
194 temporary 261 permanent 60-100Gy Astrocytomas I (97) 85% 83%
< 10cGy/h Astrocytomas II (250) 61% 51%
Oligoastrocytomas (60) 49% 58 months
Oligodendrogliomas (27) 50% 61 months
Gemistocytic gliomas (21) 32% 37 months

Fernandez
1995 [117]
58 permanent 102Gy Astrocytomas III (40) > 31 months
4-7cGy/h Glioblastomas (18) > 23 months
0.1-32mCi Additional pRT (50-60Gy)
(17% before, 66% after, 17% not)

Sneed
1995 [141]
159 temporary 36-67Gy Glioblastomas (159) 85% 36% 20% 19 months
30-70cGy/h Additional pRT (40-77Gy)

Ostertag
1995 [150]
93 temporary 60-100Gy
10cGy/h
New metastases:
Seed + pRT (40Gy) (38) 17 months
seed only (34) 15 months
Recurrent Metastases:
Preirradiated (21)
6 months

Halligan
1996 [128]
22 permanent 150-300Gy Recurrent tumours: 57% 15 months
11cGy/h Astrocytomas III (4)
39mCi Glioblastomas (18)
Preirradiated (54-65Gy)
59% 15 months

Kreth
1997 [99]
197 temporary & permanent 45-100Gy or Astrocytomas II (153) 60%
50-120Gy Oligoastrocytomas II (44)
3-18cGy/h Additional pRT (47) 17 months

Sneed
1997 [12]
permanent 60-100Gy Astrocytomas I 85% 83%
5-10cGy/h Astrocytomas II 61% 51%

Sneed
1997 [12]
temporary 60Gy New high-grade gliomas 18-19 months
40-60cGy/h Recurrent high-grade gliomas 12-13 months

Schulder
1997 [151]
13 permanent 43-132Gy Metastases (13) 8 months
0.26-0.79mCi Additional pRT (30-75Gy)

Chamberlain
1997 [138]
15 temporary 50Gy
50cGy/h
Recurrent glioblastomas (15) 10 months

Laperriere
1998 [24]
63 temporary 57-68Gy Malignant astrocytomas (140)
21-125cGy/h Additional pRT (50Gy) (63) 16 months
only pRT (50Gy) (69) 13 months

Gaspar
1999 [53]
59 permanent 100Gy Recurrent tumours:
5cGy/h Astrocytomas III (22) 76% 55% 32% 16 months
Glioblastomas (37) 44% 13% 24 months
preirradiated (50-66Gy) 11 months

Videtic
1999, 2001
[121,122]
75 permanent 100Gy Astrocytomas III (22) 58% 40% 40 months
5cGy/h Glioblastomas (53)
Additional pRT (50-60Gy)
40-42% 18% 16-17 months

Suplica
1999 [142]
38 permanent 100-500Gy Recurrent glioblastomas (38) 12 months
0.67mCi Preirradiated (59-72Gy)

Patel
2000 [140]
40 permanent 120-160Gy
0.58-0.86mCi
Recurrent glioblastomas (40)
preirradiated (60Gy)
72% 11 months

Koot
2000 [139] comment [196]
33 temporary
12 permanent
50-80Gy
3-5cGy/h
5-40mCi
Glioblastomas (45)
Additional pRT (10-30Gy)
13 months

Rostomily
2001 [197]
6 permanent 160-218Gy Recurrent paediatric tumours: 22 months
10cGy/h
23-76mCi
Primitive neuroectodermal tumours (2)
Medulloblastomas (1)
Ependymomas (1)
Xanthoastrocytomas (1)
Glioblastomas (1)
preirradiated (3 craniospinal, 2 WBRT)

Keole
2001 [132]
26 permanent 83-100Gy Glioblastomas (26)
Additional pRT (57-61Gy)
23 months

Huang
2002 [153]
28 permanent 200-500Gy Metastases: 11 months
15-69mCi New (16) 14 months
Recurrent (12) 5 months

Zamorano
2003 [124]
60 permanent 100Gy Astrocytomas III (57) 87% 60% 50% 46% 57 months
3-7cGy/h Oligodendrogliomas III (3)
Additional pRT (50-60Gy)
(78% before, 22% not)

Larson
2004 [133]
35 permanent 150-500Gy
7-24cGy/h
56mCi
Recurrent glioblastomas (35)
Preirradiated (59-72Gy)
12 months

Mehrkens
2004 [101]
55 temporary & permanent 60-100Gy
3-10cGy/h
Astrocytomas II (46)
Oligoastrocytomas II (9)
55% 28% 68 months

Kreth
2006 [67]
136 temporary 100Gy Astrocytomas II (187) 56% 37% 26%
103 permanent 60Gy
8cGy/h
Oligoastrocytomas II (52)

Herrera
2007 [94]
12 temporary 52-80Gy Paediatric astrocytomas I (12) 83%
4-20cGy/h
11-41mCi

Julow
2007 [98]
43 temporary 40-200Gy Astrocytomas I/II (27) 93% 61% 40% 36 months
1-83cGy/h Astrocytomas III (10) 48% 19% 0% 16 months
12-155mCi Glioblastomas (6) 17% 0% 0% 8 months
New tumours (11)
Recurrent tumours (32)

Dagnew
2007 [155]
26 permanent 120-200Gy Metastases (26) 72% 46% 18 months

Chen
2007 [130]
18 permanent 200-600Gy Glioblastomas (18) 26 months
21-95mCi Additional pRT (60Gy@ 2x1Gy/d)

Schnell
2008 [102]
31 temporary 54Gy New astrocytomas II (18) 93%
10cGy/h Recurrent astrocytomas II (13)

Darakchiev
2008 [131]
34 permanent 120Gy
27mCi
Recurrent glioblastomas (34) 82% 66% 37% 23% 16 months

Huang
2009 [156]
40 permanent 200-700Gy New metastases (19) 47% 21% 12 months
10-69mCi Recurrent metastases (21) 33% 14% 7 months

Petr
2009 [157]
72 permanent 150Gy
4-40mCi
Metastases (72) 55% 27% 14 months

Schwarz
2009 [120]
71 temporary 20-60Gy Astrocytomas I (4)
10-82mCi Astrocytomas II (30) 41 months
Astrocytomas III (11) 12 months
Glioblastomas (13) 4 months
Medulloblastomas (4)
Oligodendrogliomas (3)
Pinealis tumour (1)
Metastases (5)
Preirradiated (18-80Gy) 22 months

Ruge 2011 [149] 77 temporary 50Gy
6cGy/h
Metastases (77) 8 months

Korinthenberg 2011 [198] 94 temporary 60Gy Paediatric tumours: 97% 92%
10cGy/h Astrocytomas I (53)
10mCi Astrocytomas II (26)
Oligoastrocytomas II (4)
Oligodendrogliomas II (5)
Ependymoma II (1)
Not classified (5)

El Majdoub 2011 [183] 11 temporary 32-50Gy Recurrent Medulloblastomas (12) 67% 33% 18 months
1 permanent 2-40mCi Preirradiated (24-56Gy)

Ruge 2011 [154] 90 temporary 50Gy
3-6cGy/h
Metastases (90) 9 months

Suchorska 2011 [106] 95 temporary 50-65Gy Astrocytomas II (69) 238 months
3cGy/h Oligoastrocytomas II (14)
12mCi Oligodendrogliomas II (12)

Ruge 2011 [199] 147 temporary 65Gy Children:
1-31mCi Astrocytomas I (101) 100% 98% 93% 82%
Astrocytomas II (34) 96% 85%
Other (12) 85% 77%

Ruge 2011 [163] 50Gy Metastases 15 months