Purpose: During the evolution of lung cancer, bronchial obstruction is often noticed and is sometimes responsible for serious symptoms. Several methods of desobstruction can be proposed, including brachytherapy.
Materials and methods: One hundred forty-nine patients presenting with endobronchial brachytherapy were included into the study. Seventy-three were treated with curative intent, 47 with palliative intent and 29 with a combination of external irradiation and brachytherapy. We usually delivered a series of two 7-Gy fractions (1 cm from the catheter), the treatment being repeated one, two or three times.
Results: When all symptoms were taken into account, respiratory function improvement was present in 79% of the patients. Among the 132 tumors that could be evaluated via a new endoscopy 2 months after treatment, 64 (48.5%) were in complete histological remission. The median survival was 14.4 months for the patients treated with curative intent. Eleven massive hemoptysies and 13 radiation bronchitis were observed.
Conclusion: These results confirm the feasibility and good results related to endobronchial brachytherapy, though controlled studies are needed to better define its place in the therapeutic strategy of bronchial carcinomas.