ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S290

Brachytherapy – Head & neck, skin, eye

ESTRO 2025

751

Proffered Paper A review on the transition from PDR to HDR brachytherapy for head and neck cancers: clinical and practical aspects Renske van Noortwijk 1 , Petra Kroon 1 , Maarten Kastelijns 1 , Ina Jürgenliemk-Schulz 1 , Gerda Verduijn 2 , Inger-Karine Kolkman-Deurloo 2 , Luca Tagliaferri 3 , Bruno Fionda 3 , Elisa Placidi 3 , Abrahim Al-Mamgani 4 , Martijn Ketelaars 4 , Ellen Zwijnenburg 5 , Ruud van Leeuwen 5 , Milena Smolic 1 , Mischa de Ridder 1 1 Department of Radiotherapy, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands. 2 Department of Radiotherapy, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands. 3 Department of Radiation Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy. 4 Department of Radiation Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 5 Department of Radiation Oncology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands Purpose/Objective: Radiotherapy is a commonly used treatment modality of squamous cell carcinomas in the head and neck region. For superficial subsites, e.g. lip or nasal vestibule, brachytherapy (BT) is an often-preferred modality based on superior dose distribution. Currently, pulsed-dose-rate (PDR) BT is increasingly being replaced by high-dose rate (HDR) BT, due to logistical issues and a possible lack of PDR resources in the future[1,2]. However, published information regarding the potential clinical impact of this transition and a head-to-head comparison in terms of oncological outcome are not available. Therefore, we systematically reviewed literature on PDR and HDR treatments and gained insight in PDR and HDR practices using structured interviews. Material/Methods: A systematic literature review was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines; the search was conducted in PubMed and Embase[3]. Included were full-text articles, written in English, addressing the treatment of lip or nasal vestibule carcinoma with either PDR or HDR BT. Additional information about the practical aspects of a transition from PDR to HDR BT was gained by performing structured interviews at HDR institutes. Topics addressed were treatment practices, equipment and usage, logistics, treatment delivery and results. Results: Of 1095 records identified from two databases, 11 studies were included for the systematic review (see Figure 1). Three studies cover nasal vestibule carcinomas (1 PDR, 2 HDR), eight studies cover lip carcinomas (3 PDR, 5 HDR).