Surface Mould Brachytherapy in Superficial Tumors, Case Series from a Tertiary Cancer Centre in North India with Review of Literature

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of surface mould brachytherapy (SMB) in the management of superficial tumors, particularly in anatomically challenging locations, in the era of advanced radiotherapy technologies. Methods: Present study is a retrospective review of case series of ten patients with early stage and recurrent diseases of various sites that were treated with surface mould brachytherapy. Three patients of different disease sites were selected for reporting. All patients underwent individualized CT-based planning. All of them were treated using Ir-192 high dose rate (HDR) SMB at our center. Results: We followed up the patients at 1st, 3rd, 6thmonth and then yearly thereafter. Among all the ten cases there were two local recurrences, three cases died of metastatic disease and five were disease free till last follow up at two years. Skin reactions of grade 2 and 3 were reported during treatment which subsided after 2 to 3 weeks of treatment. Conclusion: SMB is a very effective treatment for early-stage disease and treating carcinoma of skin where difficult curve surfaces are involved. It is effective in treatment of solitary recurrences of disease and also helpful in organ preservation.