Phase I/II interstitial thermo-radiotherapy for advanced and recurrent tumors

Between January 1986 and June 1989, 45 lesions (30 head and neck, 11 pelvic and 4 other lesions) in 44 patients (24 males/20 females, 18 to 81 years) received interstitial Iridium-192 radiotherapy (IRT) and interstitial 915 MHz MW hyperthermia (IHT) supplemented by external beam radiotherapy (ERT). Minimum follow-up (FU) was 6 months (range: 6 to 39 months; mean: 16 months, SD ±9). Tumors were classified as advanced primary (AP, n=21), local recurrent (LR, n=18) and local metastatic (LM, n=6) lesions; LR and LM lesions were previously treated: surgery (n=30), chemotherapy (n=23) and prior external RT between 40 and 70 Gy (n=24). The mean dimension for 42 lesions was 4.5×4.0×3.0 ccm with (range: 12 to 135 ccm; mean: 54 ccm); 3 lesions had extensive tumor volumes >225 ccm.