High dosage brachytherapy obtains excellent results in head and n...( This release is available in A HREF h...),Health

High-dosage perioperative brachytherapy (applied within the surgical process) obtains excellent results in the treatment of head and neck tumours, at the same time as reducing the period of radiation. These are the conclusions of research undertaken jointly by three Departments at the University of Navarra Hospital and which was published in the latest issue of Brachytherapy, official journal of the American Society of Brachytherapy.

The work describes the application of this new radiotherapy technique to 40 patients between 2000 and 2006. Given the size of the sample, the article is a description of the greatest number of patients treated with high-dosage brachytherapy for head and neck tumours in world medical literature. According to results, after a seven-year follow-up, the illness was controlled in 86% of the cases and the percentage of survival was 52%.

In concrete, the research focused on the treatment of tumours in the oral cavity, those affecting the tongue and the floor of the mouth, and those in the oropharyngeal region, such as tumours of the tonsils.

Involved in the study was a multidisciplinary team of seven specialists from three departments at the University of Navarra Hospital: the Radiotherapy Department, the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the Ear, Nose and Throat Department.

As is known, brachytherapy is a radiotherapy treatment involving the placing of radioactive sources within the tumour or nearby.

In the case in hand, the work analysed the application of brachytherapy as complementary post-surgery treatment, explained Doctor Rafael Martnez-Monge, Director of the Radiotherapy Department. Some cases of head and neck tumours require the application of radiotherapy after the surgical oper
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