Page 41 - ARNM-2-4

Advances in Radiotherapy &

Nuclear Medicine

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Evaluating the impact of brachytherapy duration

on therapeutic outcomes in patients with
cervical cancer

Haonan Han 1† , Hailing Hou 2† , Lin Qiu 3 , Chingyun Cheng , Keying Xu 4 ,
4
Minglei Kang 5 , Tingting Chen 2 , Yanling Yang 2 , Xiangpan Li * , and
6
2
Liming Xu *
1 Hubei Key Laboratory of Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy, College of Basic Medical
Sciences, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, Hubei, China
2 Department of Radiation Oncology, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, National
Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin’s Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical
University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
3 Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
4 Department of Radiation Oncology, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New
Jersey, United States of America
5 New York Proton Center, New York, United States of America
6 Department of Radiation Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University/Hubei General Hospital,
Wuhan, China

† These authors contributed equally
to this work. Abstract
*Corresponding authors: The total duration of radiotherapy for patients with cervical cancer should be limited
Xiangpan Li
(rm001227@whu.edu.cn); to 56 days to optimize treatment outcomes. This study aimed to statistically evaluate
Liming Xu the effects of extended radiotherapy duration on survival and complications in
(xuliming@tjmuch.com) 649 patients with cervical cancer treated with brachytherapy at our institution
Citation: Han H, Hou H, Qiu L, from 2014 to 2019. All patients had undergone intensity-modulated external
et al. Evaluating the impact beam radiation therapy, with 525 receiving two-dimensional (2D) brachytherapy
of brachytherapy duration on
therapeutic outcomes in patients and 124 receiving three-dimensional (3D) brachytherapy. Using the inverse
with cervical cancer. Adv Radiother probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and propensity score matching (PSM),
Nucl Med. 2024;2(4):4310. clinical data regarding treatment duration, survival outcomes, and complications
doi: 10.36922/arnm.4310 were analyzed. PSM revealed that overall survival (OS) did not significantly differ
Received: July 23, 2024 between patients receiving prolonged treatment (>56 days) and those receiving
Accepted: September 3, 2024 treatment for a standard duration (<56 days) (P > 0.05). However, among patients
who had received 2D brachytherapy, prolonged treatment correlated with increased
Published Online: October 21, 2024 recurrence and metastasis risks (P < 0.001); this trend was not evident in patients
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). receiving 3D brachytherapy (P = 0.287). Higher FIGO stages were associated with
This is an Open-Access article worse OS and higher progression risks, which persisted post-IPTW adjustment.
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Extended radiotherapy duration was linked to a higher incidence of rectal and
License, permitting distribution, bladder reactions, particularly in the 2D group. Consequently, strictly controlling
and reproduction in any medium, radiotherapy duration for patients receiving 2D brachytherapy is essential to reduce
provided the original work is
properly cited. recurrence and metastasis risks. Close monitoring of rectal and bladder reactions is
also recommended.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Keywords: Cervical cancer; Radiotherapy; Brachytherapy; Treatment duration
affiliations

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2024) 1 doi: 10.36922/arnm.4310