brachytherapy boost

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ooo
ooo Member Posts: 105
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Hello fellow survivors,

yesterday I went for my third opinion and they had a surprise for me. They proposed to do radiation to mouth and neck but, instead of adding chemo to enhance the effects of radiation, they suggested a boost of radiation to the tongue through High Dose Radiation (HDR) brachytherapy (an extra ~20 Gy) at the end of a ~50 Gy IMRT treatment.

Brachytherapy seems very successful in achieving local control (which is what I need the most with my T1N0/clear-margins/perineural-invasion/oral-tongue-SCC).

I'd gladly go through an extra surgery and 4 days at the hospital for twice a day seeds insertions than having to deal with chemo.

I didn't find many posts here on csn about brachytherapy. I just wonder if any of you tried it or has opinions about it.

Today I'll read a bit more and make a decision. I can't let Phrannie get ahead of me too much. :P

Dre.

Comments

  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    #2
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    if you keep getting opinions
    you may find even more diversity among those providing them:) The standards for who gets radiation beyond the surgery you have already had are in flux. This explains the different opinions. For T1 tumors with no nodes and clear margins, some would not radiate at all. and simply observe. Others would radiate, but the 50 gray you are hearing about, is a very light dose. Most of us get about 70. So the brachytherapy that has been suggested boost the central dose to 70, while sparing surrounding tissues the last 20 gray. That twenty is what causes us to loose salivation, maybe permanently, and taste. If you are going to get rads, the recent proposal has some attraction for this reason alone. None of the options you are hearing are wrong, they are rather permutations on decent approaches to the situation.

    Best,

    Pat
  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #3
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    LOL, Dre....
    When I'm nervous I talk....when I'm excited, I talk...can you tell? :) I'd say we're keeping darn close to even on our journey.

    The temptation to do anything that would cure, with least amount of side effects would be hard to pass up. Limbo is the most uncomfortable place to be, isn't it?

    p
  • ooo
    ooo Member Posts: 105
    #4
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    Thanks Pat, I always
    Thanks Pat, I always appreciate your comments!

    > Limbo is the most uncomfortable place to be, isn't it?

    That's what the Limbo folks think.. until they experience Hell. :P
  • joannaw81
    joannaw81 Member Posts: 185 Member
    #5
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    ooo said:

    Thanks Pat, I always
    Thanks Pat, I always appreciate your comments!

    > Limbo is the most uncomfortable place to be, isn't it?

    That's what the Limbo folks think.. until they experience Hell. :P

    hello OOO
    if you read my mom's story she is fighting her third recurrance right now and one of her currect treatment options after surgery (which she had on 3/1/12) is brachytherapy. One of her doctors thinks this would be a good option for her, another seems to think it's not so we are still trying to decide. I know only a little about it but I would love to find out more so if there is anyone on this board that had it done please give some info, it would be greatly appreciated. Good luck to you OOO!

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