Bronchoscopic brachytherapy is a new technique presently being investigated for the treatment of cancer involving the tracheobronchial tree.
This paper reports on the potential application of bronchoscopic brachytherapy to the local treatment of cancer of the respiratory tract.
Bronchoscopic brachytherapy was performed on 8 patients with roentgenographically occult lung cancer after biopsies proved malignant lesions of the trachea and bronchus in each case. These patients came to the National Cancer Center Hospital during the period from September 1992 to December 1992.
Among these 8 cases of malignant lesions of the trachea and bronchus, 5 malignant lesions of the bronchus were diagnosed by bronchoscopic ultrasonography prior to the bronchoscopic brachytherapy, and these 5 patients have completed at least three courses of this therapy carried out by means of a videobronchoscope.
Among the 8 cases of malignant lesions of the trachea and bronchus, complete remission was obtained in 7 cases.
Of the 8 patients, the death of one patient was caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, while the remaining 7 patients have survived for 13-15 months (14.1 months on average) to date, without showing recurrence or metastasis.
As for the complications involved in this treatment, only a light degree of excessive secretions was observed, and there was no abcess formation in any of the cases.
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