Brachytherapy for early stage lung cancer

We have recently developed endoscopic brachytherapy (ESBT) as a new modality for treating tracheal and bronchial malignancies, and have assessed the feasibility of bronchoscopic ultrasonic diagnosis and endoscopic brachytherapy for tracheal and bronchial malignant diseases, using a combination of video-bronchoscope, an ultrasonic probe and a high-dose-rate 192Ir microselectron. Between September 1992 and August 1996, the endoscopic brachytherapy was performed on the 40 patients with early stage lung cancer at National Cancer Center Hospital. In all 40 of the cases lung cancer were histologically confirmed by biopsy before treatment. Of the 40 patients who received the endoscopic brachytherapy, 39 patients showed complete response to this therapy. Of the 40 patients, 29 patients are alive 4-51 months after therapy with no apparent recurrence or metastasis, and 9 patients have died. The 3-year survival of the 40 patients was 81.7%. (author)