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Back to Oncology Procedures
Brachytherapy
Sealed source radiotherapy
Sealed source radiotherapy or brachytherapy is the application of
radiation from close range and is used for techniques where the
radioactive source is placed inside the area requiring treatment.
The greek word "brachy" means close or nearby, and is the opposite of
"tele" which means far or at a distance. Teletherapy has been used to
refer to the use of gamma-emitting sources (usually Cobolt-60)
positioned perhaps 0.8m from the target volume.
Brachytherapy can be split into three main types:
- Surface Applicator or "Mould" brachytherapy. Superficial tumours can
be treated using sealed sources placed close to the skin. Dosimetry is
often performed with reference to the Manchester system; a rule-based
approach designed to ensure that the dose to all parts of the target
volume is within 10% of the prescription dose.
- Interstitial brachytherapy. Here the sources are inserted into tissue.
The first treatments of this kind used needles containing Radium-226,
arranged according to the Manchester system, but modern methods tend
to use Iridium-192 wire. Iridium wire can be arranged either using the
Manchester or the Paris system; the latter was designed specifically
to take advantage of the new nuclide. Prostate cancer treatment with
Iodine-125 seeds is also classified as interstitial brachytherapy.
- Intracavitary brachytherapy places the sources inside a pre-existing
body cavity. The most common applications of this method are
gynaecological in nature, although it can also be performed on the
nasopharynx.
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