Intraoperative brachytherapy of the retroperitoneal space sarcoma: irradiation technique and assessment of early tolerance

Abstract

Sarcomas localised in the retroperitoneal space are not very common, and surgery is the main method used in radical treatment of these malignancies. In most cases radiotherapy is only a complementary method of therapy. The authors present a technique which employs a high dose source (HDR brachytherapy) to irradiate the site following the surgical excision of the tumour. The irradiation is carried out intraoperationally, and the preliminary results indicate that the above method is well tolerated by patients.