Soror Tamer, Siebert Frank-André, Lancellotta Valentina, Placidi Elisa, Fionda Bruno, Tagliaferri Luca, Kovács György
Radiation Oncology Department, University of Lübeck/UKSH-CL, 23538 Lübeck, Germany.
Radiation Oncology Department, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cairo University, Cairo 11796, Egypt.
Cancers (Basel). 2021 Feb 22;13(4):912. doi: 10.3390/cancers13040912.
The use of brachytherapy (interventional radiotherapy) in the treatment of gynecological cancers is a crucial element in both definitive and adjuvant settings. The recent developments in high-dose rate remote afterloaders, modern applicators, treatment-planning software, image guidance, and dose monitoring systems have led to improvement in the local control rates and in some cases improved the survival rates. The development of these highly advanced and complicated treatment modalities has been accompanied by challenges, which have made the existence of quality assurance protocols a must to ensure the integrity of the treatment process. Quality assurance aims at standardizing the technical and clinical procedures involved in the treatment of patients, which could eventually decrease the source of uncertainties whether technical (source/equipment related) or clinical. This commentary review sheds light (from a clinical point of view) on some potential sources of uncertainties associated with the use of modern brachytherapy in the treatment of gynecological cancers.
近距离放射治疗（介入性放射治疗）在妇科癌症治疗中，无论是在根治性还是辅助性治疗中都是关键要素。高剂量率遥控后装治疗机、现代施源器、治疗计划软件、图像引导和剂量监测系统的最新进展，提高了局部控制率，在某些情况下还提高了生存率。这些高度先进且复杂的治疗方式的发展伴随着挑战，这使得质量保证方案的存在成为确保治疗过程完整性的必要条件。质量保证旨在规范治疗患者所涉及的技术和临床程序，最终减少无论是技术方面（与源/设备相关）还是临床方面的不确定性来源。本述评从临床角度揭示了与现代近距离放射治疗用于妇科癌症治疗相关的一些潜在不确定性来源。
