Table 1.

Overview of studies treating recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma using brachytherapy alone

Author, Year	N	Brachytherapy	Total dose	Additional therapy	Results	Complications
Grimard, 2006 [5]	82	Ir 192; LDR	≥ 55 Gy	Surgery (14), EBRT (3), Surgery + EBRT (6)	LC at 2 years: 37% OS at 2 years: 33%	8.5% acute toxicity 22% late toxicity
Strnad, 2014 [8]	104	PDR	55 Gy or 24 Gy (when +EBRT)	Surgery (51%), EBRT (32%), Chemo (56%)	LC at 5 years: 82% OS at 5 years: 21%	31% late toxicity
Strnad, 2014 [12]	51	PDR	60 Gy or 27 Gy (when +EBRT)	EBRT (22%), Chemo (69%)	LC at 5 years: 57%	10% acute grade 3 29% late toxicity
Puthawala, 2001 [17]	220	Ir 192; LDR	Median: 53 Gy	Chemo (88)	LC at 5 years: 51% OS at 5 years: 20%	60% acute toxicity 27% late toxicity (65% of which had RT > 65 Gy)
Hepel, 2005 [18]	30	Ir 192; HDR	Mean: 34 Gy	Chemo (43%), EBRT (6%)	LC at 2 years: 67% OS at 2 years: 37%	16% late grade 3-4 toxicity
Jiang, 2011 [19]	29	I 125; LDR, US-guided	Median: D90 130 Gy	Not mentioned	LC at 2 years: 35% OS at 2 years: 28%	No carotid rupture or soft tissue/bone necrosis
Glatzel, 2002 [37]	90	Ir 192; HDR	Median: 17.5 Gy	Not mentioned	Median: OS 6 Mo	7% late grade 3-4
Zhu, 2013 [32]	19	I 125; LDR, US or CT-guided	Median: D90 131 Gy	Not mentioned	LC at 2 years: 27.5% OS at 2 years: 18%	No grade 4 or 5 toxicity
Meng, 2012 [38]	17	I 125; LDR, US or CT-guided	Median: D90 126 Gy	Not mentioned	LC at 2 years: 50% OS at 2 years: 24%	No grade 3 or 4 toxicity
Wiegand, 2013 [39]	12	Ir 192; HDR	Mean: 20-33 Gy	Not mentioned	Median: OS 8.5 Mo	No serious complications

Ir 192 – Iridium 192; I 125 – Iodine 125; Gy – Gray; LDR – low-dose-rate; HDR – high-dose-rate; PDR – pulsed-dose-rate; US – ultrasound; CT – computed tomography; EBRT – external beam radiation therapy; RT – radiotherapy; LC – local control; OS – overall survival