[Brachytherapy for head and neck cancers (nasopharynx excluded)]

Abstract

Brachytherapy is one of the standard treatments of head and neck cancers. The main indications are: the oral cavity, the oropharynx, the lips, the peri-orificial skin carcinomas on the face, the postoperative treatments for T1-2/N0 cancers of the oral cavity with close or positive margins, the second cancers in previously irradiated areas, the intra-operative brachytherapy for recurrent cervical lymph node metastases from previously irradiated tissues after maximal surgical debulking. The major prognostic factors published allowed to improve the technique: using a leaded protection of the mandible, the intersource spacing (1,2-1,4 cm), the volume treated (30 cm3, i.e. three loops), the safety margin (5 mm), the dose rate (0,5 Gy/h), the total dose (65 Gy in case of exclusive brachytherapy, 25 Gy in case of a combination of external beam irradiation [50 Gy] and brachytherapy in the oropharyngeal carcinomas, 35 Gy in case of a combination of external beam irradiation [40 Gy] and brachytherapy in the oral cavity carcinomas, 60 Gy in case of a second cancer in previous irradiated tissues), the delay between external irradiation and brachytherapy (< 20 days). The pulse dose rate brachytherapy should improve results with the control of the dose rate and the optimization of the dose distribution. For high dose rate brachytherapy, more results are needed to recommend this technique for routine use.