[Interstitial HDR afterloading therapy with flexible catheters].

At the department of radiation therapy of the university of Würzburg flexible catheters are in use since 1989 for interstitial brachytherapy in high dose rate mode as the sole treatment modality or in combination with external beam therapy. The afterloading technique is applied in carcinoma of the oropharynx, of the oral cave, of the pancreas and in brain tumors. As flexible catheters are well tolerated, high radiation doses are given in fractions over several days up to two weeks. Localisation radiographs and CT scans are needed, in order to calculate exactly the dose distribution of target volume and adjacent healthy tissue. Doses up to 30 Gy for the target volume in 10 to 15 fractions are well tolerated. The patients daily activities are not restricted during the whole treatment time. Excellent palliations are achieved with minimal side effects.