PERMANENT IODINE-125 INTERSTITIAL PLANAR SEED BRACHYTHERAPY FOR CLOSE OR POSITIVE MARGINS FOR THORACIC MALIGNANCIES

Purpose: To assess toxicity and outcome following permanent iodine-125 seed implant as an adjunct to surgical resection in cases of advanced thoracic malignancy. Methods and Materials: An institutional review board-approved retrospective review was performed. Fifty-nine patients were identified as having undergone thoracic brachytherapy seed implantation between September 1999 and December 2006. Data for patient demographics, tumor details, and morbidity and mortality were recorded. Results: Fifty-nine patients received 64 implants. At a median follow-up of 17 months, 1-year and 2-year Kaplan-Meier rates of estimated overall survival were 94.1% and 82.0%, respectively. The 1-year and 2-year local control rates were 80.1% and 67.4%, respectively. The median time to develop local recurrence was 11 months. Grades 3 and 4 toxicity rates were 12% at 1 year. Conclusions: This review shows relatively low toxicity for interstitial planar seed implantation after thoracic surgical resection. The high local control results suggest that an incomplete oncologic surgery plus a brachytherapy implant for treating advanced thoracic malignancy merit further investigation. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc.