Table 5.
Local recurrence of SCCs after brachytherapy
| Study and No of SCCs | Site | Brachytherapy modality and dose | Follow-up | Proportion with local recurrence (95% CI) | Prognostic features* | Study design |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allan 1998 (n=3) | Pinna | High dose rate microselectron 192Ir plane or mould; 42.5-45 Gy, 8 fractions | Minimum 18 months | 0.00 (0.00 to 0.71) | Confined to skin of pinna | Prospective |
| Ashby 1989 (n=48) | Any (33% head and neck) | Radon mould, 35-40 Gy; overall treatment time 6 days 20 h | 45.3 months (1-146) | 0.04 (0.01 to 0.14) | Median tumour volume 1099 mm3 (16-6300 mm3); differentiation: well (84%), moderate (16%) | Retrospective |
| Guix 2000 (n=18) | Facial | High dose rate custom made 192Ir surface mould, 60-65 Gy, 33-36 fractions (<4 cm diameter) or boosted to 75-80 Gy after 3 week pause (>4 cm diameter) | Minimum 12 months | 0.06 (0.00 to 0.27) | Diameter (all SCCs) <2 cm (23.5%), 2-5 cm (73.5%), 5-8 cm (3%); perineural invasion (5.8%); lymphatic invasion (14.7%) | Prospective |
| Lee 1997 (n=3) | Scalp, neck, face | 166Ho impregnated patch for total 30 min to 1 h, 50 Gy | 8-20 months | 0.00 (0.00 to 0.71) | Selected superficial tumours only | Prospective |
| Rio 2005 (n=5) | Facial | Interstitial brachytherapy with 192Ir wires, average dose 50-65 Gy, mean implantation time 79 h | Median 55 months (range 6-132) | 0.00 (0.00 to 0.52) | Lip carcinomas excluded | Retrospective |
| Svodoba 1995 (n=11) | Any | High dose rate 192Ir afterloaded moulds, 12-50 Gy, 1-15 fractions | Average 9.6 months (range 5-22) | 0.00 (0.00 to 0.28) | Area <0.5 to >6.1 cm2 | Prospective |
*Percentages indicate proportion of SCCs in study.