Barthwal Mansi, Pareek Vibhay, Mallick Supriya, Sharma D N
Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Institute, AIIMS, New Delhi, India.
J Contemp Brachytherapy. 2020 Aug;12(4):393-396. doi: 10.5114/jcb.2020.97643. Epub 2020 Aug 21.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a havoc across the globe, and has significantly affected oncology services, especially radiation therapy due to the need of social distancing as a measure for the pandemic mitigation. Brachytherapy, being an integral part of radiation therapy, posts a dilemma related to the practice of evidence-based oncology. It requires a significant amount of resources and personnel, thereby increasing the risk of exposure to the virus. There has been a significant amount of papers published providing the best available alternatives to external radiation; however, there is a lack of literature on the practice of brachytherapy. In times of the pandemic, deploying brachytherapy as a treatment modality can act as a double-edged sword and therefore, judicious use is warranted in such times of crisis. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the role of brachytherapy in various forms and different malignancy sites.
新冠疫情在全球造成了严重破坏，对肿瘤学服务产生了重大影响，尤其是放射治疗，因为作为缓解疫情的一项措施，需要保持社交距离。近距离放射治疗作为放射治疗的一个组成部分，在循证肿瘤学实践方面带来了两难困境。它需要大量资源和人员，从而增加了接触病毒的风险。已经发表了大量论文，提供了外照射的最佳可用替代方案；然而，关于近距离放射治疗实践的文献却很匮乏。在疫情期间，将近距离放射治疗作为一种治疗方式可能会成为一把双刃剑，因此，在这种危机时刻有必要明智地使用。在本文中，我们全面综述了近距离放射治疗在各种形式和不同恶性肿瘤部位中的作用。
