Successful treatment of a T1 cancer of the pancreatic head with high dose rate brachytherapy and external radiotherapy.

In this report, a unique case of a localized (T1N0M0) adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas is presented, which was successfully treated with interstitial high dose rate brachytherapy combined with percutan irradiation after biopsy. A total dose of 18 Gy was delivered with brachytherapy (6 Gy per fraction on three consecutive days) to the tumor via after-loading catheter. Brachytherapy was followed by external radiotherapy, delivering an additional dose of 46 Gy (18 MV-x) with four-field technique using conventional fractionation (2 Gy/day). Thirty-six months after completion of the treatment the patient is alive with no evidence of disease. The combination of interstitial high dose rate brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy may be an effective tool to deliver curative dose without any significant sequelae in the treatment of operable pancreatic carcinoma, when the patient's condition contraindicates surgery.

[Successful treatment of a localised pancreatic cancer with radiotherapy alone: a case report]. / Lokalizált pancreascarcinoma sikeres kezelése egyedüli sugárterápiával: esetismertetés.

AIM: To present a unique case of an early (T1N0M0) adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas, which was successfully treated with radiotherapy alone. MATERIAL AND METHOD: After the computer tomography operated histological verification the combination of interstitial high dose rate after-loading brachytherapy (18 Gy, 6 Gy/die) and percutan irradiation (46 Gy) was applied. RESULT: Fifty-two months after completion of the treatment the patient is alive with no evidence of disease. CONCLUSION: The combination of these therapeutic modalities may be an effective tool to deliver curative dose without any significant sequelae in the treatment of operable pancreatic carcinoma, when the patient's condition contraindicates surgery.