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Comparative Study
. 2017 May-Jun;16(3):646-653.
doi: 10.1016/j.brachy.2017.01.012. Epub 2017 Mar 3.

Visual acuity, oncologic, and toxicity outcomes with 103Pd vs. 125I plaque treatment for choroidal melanoma

Affiliations
Comparative Study

Visual acuity, oncologic, and toxicity outcomes with 103Pd vs. 125I plaque treatment for choroidal melanoma

Kirtesh R Patel et al. Brachytherapy. 2017 May-Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate outcomes of choroidal melanoma patients treated with 125I or 103Pd plaque brachytherapy.

Methods and materials: From 1993 to 2012, our institution treated 160 patients with 103Pd (56.1%) and 125 patients with 125I (43.9%) plaque brachytherapy. Tumor outcomes, visual acuity (VA), and toxicity were compared. Multivariate analyses (MVAs) and propensity score analysis were used to help address differences in baseline characteristics.

Results: Median followup was longer for 125I patients, 52.7 vs. 43.5 months (p < 0.01). At baseline, 103Pd patients had lower rates of VA worse than 20/200 (4.4% vs. 16%, p = 0.002), T3-T4 tumors (17.5% vs. 32.8%, p = 0.03), and transpupillary thermotherapy use (3.1% vs. 9.6%, p = 0.001). Both 103Pd and 125I provided >90% 3-year overall survival and >93% 5-year secondary enucleation-free survival. On MVA, radionuclide was not predictive for tumor outcomes. A higher percentage maintained vision better than 20/40 with 103Pd (63% vs. 35%, p = 0.007) at 3 years. MVA demonstrated 103Pd radionuclide (odds ratio [OR]: 2.12, p = 0.028) and tumor height ≤5 mm (OR: 2.78, p = 0.017) were associated with VA better than 20/40. Propensity score analysis matched 23 125I with 107 103Pd patients. 103Pd continued to predict better VA at 3 years (OR: 8.10, p = 0.014). On MVA for the development of VA worse than 20/200 or degree of vision loss, radionuclide was not significant. Lower rates of radiation retinopathy were seen with 103Pd than 125I (3 years: 47.3% vs. 63.9%, p = 0.016), with radionuclide significant in MVA.

Conclusions: Both 125I and 103Pd achieve excellent tumor control. An increased probability of long-term VA better than 20/40 and reduced risk of radiation retinopathy is associated with 103Pd.

Keywords: Choroidal melanoma; Episcleral plaque brachytherapy; Iodine; Palladium.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Estimated overall survival for treatment with 125I compared with 103Pd. Curve is truncated at 84 months. CI = confidence interval.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Estimated secondary enucleation (a) and distant metastases-free survival (b) for treatment with 125I compared with 103Pd. Curve is truncated at 84 months.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Estimated rate of developing radiation retinopathy or vitreous hemorrhage with 125I compared with 103Pd. Curve is truncated at 60 months.

References

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