High-dose-rate plesiotherapy with customized molds in non-melanoma skin cancer: efficacy and safety at 10 years-single institution experience.

PURPOSE: Our center adopted high-dose-rate brachytherapy with surface applicators (plesiotherapy) in 2008, creating custom molds to treat irregular areas. This study describes the efficacy and safety outcomes after extensive follow-up in the patients. METHODS/PATIENTS: We planned the treatment using two computed tomography (CT) scans: the first to delineate the lesion and the second after placing the thermoplastic mold. Fusing the two CT images enables planning of the target volume and pinpointing, where the catheters are in the mold. RESULTS: Seventy patients received plesiotherapy, either exclusively or following excision in patients with risk factors for recurrence. Those receiving plesiotherapy alone showed a complete response rate of 95.8%, and recurrences occurred in 5.7% at a mean follow-up of 96.2 months. Chronic toxicity appeared in 26.6% of patients, but severity was limited to grade 1 or 2. CONCLUSIONS: High-dose-rate brachytherapy with customized molds yields a high rate of complete response, with long-term recurrence rates in line with similar studies and an acceptable toxicity rate.

Prevention of acute radiation enteritis: efficacy and tolerance of glutamine.

PURPOSE Our primary endpoint is to determine the effect of L-glutamine Resource (Nestlé Healthcare Nutrition) in the prevention of induced enteritis after pelvic radiotherapy (RT). METHODS We observed the incidence of diarrhoea during and after pelvic radiation therapy in patients receiving L-glutamine Resource (Nestlé Healthcare Nutrition) supplementation. To assess results, patients were stratified according to prior treatment (prior surgery and/or concomitant chemotherapy, or no prior or concomitant treatment). RESULTS Incidence of diarrhoea observed is similar to published series in which glutamine is not administered. Grade 1 intestinal toxicity was observed in 4 patients (15.4%), grade 2 in 10 patients (38.4%) and grade 3 in 5 patients (19.2%). Mean dose of RT at the start of enteritis was 23.55 Gy (12-40). No grade 4 toxicity occurred and in 7 patients (27%) no toxicity was reported. No differences in toxicity incidence were observed between RT dose levels. CONCLUSIONS Administration of glutamine to patients during pelvic RT does not appear to prevent the incidence of enteritis (diarrhoea). No differences were observed between patients who underwent concomitant chemotherapy (where you would expect an increase in toxicity) and those who did not.