High Dose Rate (HDR) Versus Low Dose Rate (LDR) Brachytherapy in Carcinoma Cervix

Radiation therapy still remains mainstay of treatment for patients with carcinoma cervix in advanced stages. Conventional treatment with radiation therapy includes a combination of external beam radiation therapy and intracavitary treatment. Low dose rate intracavitary brachytherapy treatment is the time-tested modality of brachytherapy with sound radiobiological bases. But high dose rate brachytherapy is a relatively new alternative. In low dose rate brachytherapy the staff receives some radiation while in the high dose rate brachytherapy procedure complete protection to staff can be achieved as the treatment is done with remote afterloading technique. The high dose rate brachytherapy is possible as Out Patient Department procedure. Few clinical trials have proven the feasibility and efficacy of high dose rate brachytherapy in carcinoma of cervix. However, there is no concrete evidence especially in developing countries for the change of practice to HDR brachytherapy. Hence, at Tata Memorial Hospital with an aim to assess the efficacy, feasibility, early and late complications of high dose rate brachytherapy in contrast with low dose rate brachytherapy we propose this study.