In the therapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, intracavitary radiation from the nasopharynx by a remote afterloading system (RALS) has been used in combination with ex-ternal beam therapy in several hospitals, but this method is not available for intracranial remnant tumors, because the dose is insufficient.
For such cases, we tried RALS therapy from the sphenoid sinus and obtained good results. Two T4 patients were treated with this method; both had intracranial remnant tumors after 66Gy of external beam radiation. After opening the sphenoid sinus surgically, an application tube was inserted into the sinus from the naris. RALS therapy was done twice or 4 times. In one patient, the remnant tumor vanished, and in the other, the tumor was significantly reduced in size.
This method is effective for intracranial remnant tumors, which do not respond to RALS therapy from the nasopharynx.
