Interstitial irradiation for CNS lesions.

In this study, we investigated the efficacy of brachytherapy in the treatment of 138 patients with intracranial neoplasms of the CNS. Of the total number of patients, 50 presented with glioblastoma multiforme, 45 presented with low-grade glioma, 19 presented with anaplastic astrocytoma, 23 presented with metastases and 1 presented with meningioma. During the execution of this study, seeds of 125I (10-20 mCi) were inserted into the lesions to aim the irradiation at a low dose of 60 Gy in the margin of benign lesions or 1 cm beyond the radiological border of malignant lesions, which were visualized on CT scan. The results of this procedure were evaluated in terms of the survival rates, which were assessed by Kaplan-Meier curves. Significant relationships were not observed between the volume and location of the lesions, the whole-brain radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and the survival time of the patients. A low Karnofsky Index score and older age were associated with a short survival time. In light of the above, it was concluded that interstitial irradiation is a safe and effective method of treatment for brain tumors. Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel