Experience with remote afterloading technique in intracavitary therapy

A low dose rate (40 to 100 cGy per hr) remote afterloading intracavitary therapy unit was evaluated in a clinical environment. 50 patients were treated It was found that this device is indeed an effective means to reduce personnel radiation exposure, especially to those who are performing bed-side care for these patients. However, it was also found that these treatments will be interrupted about 1.5 times per hr, and the overall treatment time can be prolonged by 10 to 50%. Whether this may introduce any difference in biological effect is questionable. Using an upper limit value for alpha j, the cost-benefit analysis shows that at best, this method is only marginally justifiable.