The use of interstitial radiation therapy in the treatment of persistent, localized, and unresectable cancer in children.

Two children with cancer that persisted after multiple exploratory laparotomies, external beam radiation therapy, and multidrug chemotherapy had gold 198 (198Au) seeds implanted into their localized but unresectable tumor. Both children are alive, are receiving no therapy, and are disease-free more than 2 years later. These two cases indicate the value of interstitial implant therapy in the treatment of some children with cancer.