Episcleral iridium-192 wire therapy for choroidal melanomas.
PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectivity of high-dose episcleral iridium-192 wires in the treatment of choroidal melanoma. METHODS AND MATERIALS: In 1983, the Departments of Radiation Oncology and Ophthalmology at the ClÃnica Puerta de Hierro, Madrid, Spain, initiated a clinical study using removable episcleral iridium-192 wires in the treatment of choroidal melanoma. Sixty-six evaluable patients were treated from January 1983 through July 1992. Two patients had a small sized tumor (3%), 28 had a medium sized tumor (42%), and 36 patients had a large tumor (54%). The mean follow-up was 40 months (6-118 months). The dose to the apex of the tumor ranged from 66 to 97 Gy (mean 76.6 Gy), and the doses at 2 mm depth ranged from 77 to 433 Gy (mean 200 Gy). RESULTS: Tumor regression or stabilization was observed in 53 of the 66 patients (90%). Visual acuity improved following treatment in 5 out of 54 patients (9%), remaining unchanged in 30 out of 54 (56%), and decreased in 19 out of 54 (35%) patients. The remaining seven patients had undergone enucleation. Late complications have been documented in 20 out of 66 patients (30%), including 6 patients in whom enucleation was required because of radiation-related complications. The probability of survival and survival free of local progression was 93% at 5 years and 79% at 10 years. The probability of retaining the treated eye is 82% after the fifth year posttreatment. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of choroidal melanomas with episcleral iridium-192 wires is as effective as treatment with other radioactive applications. We feel that our results using iridium-192 wires are comparable to the other methods. However, we think that our technique is simple to implement, relatively inexpensive, and well tolerated.[1]References
- Episcleral iridium-192 wire therapy for choroidal melanomas. Valcárcel, F., Valverde, S., Cárdenes, H., Cajigal, C., de la Torre, A., Magallón, R., Regueiro, C., Encinas, J.L., Aragón, G. Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. (1994) [Pubmed]
Annotations and hyperlinks in this abstract are from individual authors of WikiGenes or automatically generated by the WikiGenes Data Mining Engine. The abstract is from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.About WikiGenesOpen Access LicencePrivacy PolicyTerms of Useapsburg