Objective: To present the results achieved by brachytherapy in the treatment of bladder cancer and to review the literature on this subject.
Methods: 120 patients with bladder cancer were treated with brachytherapy at two Dutch Centres. Selection criteria were good general condition allowing anesthesia, good bladder function (capacity of 300 ml), solitary tumor maximum 5 cm diameter, T1G3, T2, T3a. Before the implant an extensive transurethral resection was performed. The urologist carried out a cystostomy and the radiation oncologist did the implant using iridium-192 wires. The administered tumor dose was 60 Gy at a dose rate of 60-90 cGy/hour.
Results: The 5-year overall survival and disease-free survival was 67% and 73%, respectively. By stage, the 5-year disease-free survival was 100% in T1, 80% in T2 and 67% in T3. Local failure was observed in 15 patients (13%). Six of these relapses were salvaged by cystectomy. Ten patients had a superficial tumor Ta-T1 in bladder sites other than the original tumor site. Acute and late complications were unusual. The results compare quite well with those of other series published in the literature.
Conclusion: Brachytherapy achieves excellent results in selected patients with solitary bladder cancer maintaining a fully functional bladder. Acute and late complications of this treatment modality are relatively infrequent.