High dose interstitial brachytherapy for treatment of carcinoma of the lip as an alternative to surgery: a case report

Lip cancer (LC) is the most common cancer of the oral cavity and is the second most common in the head and neck. Brachytherapy (BT) is a good treatment option for this type of cancer because it administers high doses of radiation to the target. BT has similar cure and survival rates as surgery for the same type of cancer, but it often produces more favourable aesthetic results, especially when the tumour is treated in its early stages. We present a case of a patient diagnosed with stage II lower LC who refused surgical treatment. Instead, high-dose-rate interstitial BT was performed with 192Ir. A 2-year post-treatment follow-up indicated there were neither serious complications nor recurrence of cancer during that period.