Preliminary experience in HDR brachytherapy for 72 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.

From April 1989 to July 1991, 72 patients with residual or recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) were treated by MSH Ir-192 brachytherapy or combined external radiation therapy. All were proven histologically. 39 patients with residual disease and 6 with recurrent lesion at the primary site were identified after one or more courses of radical external radiation. Eleven patients had received brachytherapy for boost therapy after one or more courses of external radiation. Sixteen were treated with a planned protocol of external irradiation combined with intracavitary brachytherapy. The overall local control rate was 93.3%; the local control rate for residual and recurrent disease was 100% and 50%, respectively. Soft palate perforation was observed in 3 patients. Brachytherapy is believed to be a useful treatment for residual or recurrent NPC following radical external radiation.