Practical brachytherapy solutions to an age-old quandary
Cancer is predominantly a disease of the elderly and as population life expectancy increases, so will the incidence of malignant disease. Elderly patients often have other comorbidities and social complexities, increasing the support required to safely deliver all treatment modalities. Brachytherapy...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Technical Innovations & Patient Support in Radiation Oncology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405632420300238 |
| _version_ | 1818663968906936320 |
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| author | N. Thiruthaneeswaran H. Tharmalingam P.J. Hoskin |
| author_facet | N. Thiruthaneeswaran H. Tharmalingam P.J. Hoskin |
| author_sort | N. Thiruthaneeswaran |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cancer is predominantly a disease of the elderly and as population life expectancy increases, so will the incidence of malignant disease. Elderly patients often have other comorbidities and social complexities, increasing the support required to safely deliver all treatment modalities. Brachytherapy is a relatively simple technique by which radiation therapy can be delivered. It offers dosimetric advantages through a highly conformal dose distribution thereby limiting radiation exposure to normal tissues reducing toxicity. Requiring fewer hospital visits, it also offers practical and logistical advantages to the elderly population and in many cases can be performed without the need for general anaesthesia. In tumour streams where brachytherapy forms part of the curative management, it should not be omitted in elderly patients who are medically fit for treatment. In the palliative setting, brachytherapy often offers an excellent means for achieving either local tumour and/or symptom control and should be actively considered in the therapeutic armamentarium of the oncologist in this context. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T05:25:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-47e598f82a644a4a8af3e5661305051c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-6324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T05:25:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Technical Innovations & Patient Support in Radiation Oncology |
| spelling | doaj.art-47e598f82a644a4a8af3e5661305051c2022-12-21T22:01:53ZengElsevierTechnical Innovations & Patient Support in Radiation Oncology2405-63242020-12-01163947Practical brachytherapy solutions to an age-old quandaryN. Thiruthaneeswaran0H. Tharmalingam1P.J. Hoskin2Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Corresponding author at: Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, Northwood, UKDivision of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, Northwood, UKCancer is predominantly a disease of the elderly and as population life expectancy increases, so will the incidence of malignant disease. Elderly patients often have other comorbidities and social complexities, increasing the support required to safely deliver all treatment modalities. Brachytherapy is a relatively simple technique by which radiation therapy can be delivered. It offers dosimetric advantages through a highly conformal dose distribution thereby limiting radiation exposure to normal tissues reducing toxicity. Requiring fewer hospital visits, it also offers practical and logistical advantages to the elderly population and in many cases can be performed without the need for general anaesthesia. In tumour streams where brachytherapy forms part of the curative management, it should not be omitted in elderly patients who are medically fit for treatment. In the palliative setting, brachytherapy often offers an excellent means for achieving either local tumour and/or symptom control and should be actively considered in the therapeutic armamentarium of the oncologist in this context.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405632420300238BrachytherapyHigh dose-rate (HDR)Geriatric oncologyElderlyRadiotherapy |
| spellingShingle | N. Thiruthaneeswaran H. Tharmalingam P.J. Hoskin Practical brachytherapy solutions to an age-old quandary Technical Innovations & Patient Support in Radiation Oncology Brachytherapy High dose-rate (HDR) Geriatric oncology Elderly Radiotherapy |
| title | Practical brachytherapy solutions to an age-old quandary |
| title_full | Practical brachytherapy solutions to an age-old quandary |
| title_fullStr | Practical brachytherapy solutions to an age-old quandary |
| title_full_unstemmed | Practical brachytherapy solutions to an age-old quandary |
| title_short | Practical brachytherapy solutions to an age-old quandary |
| title_sort | practical brachytherapy solutions to an age old quandary |
| topic | Brachytherapy High dose-rate (HDR) Geriatric oncology Elderly Radiotherapy |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405632420300238 |
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