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Introduction: We evaluated the effectiveness of interstitial high dose rate brachytherapy as a single fraction boost to the surgical bed in patients with breast cancer undergoing conservative treatment. The comparison was with the alternative of electron boost., Materials and Methods: Between April 1999 and December 2000, we conducted a prospective study of 84 patients with infiltrative breast carcinoma treated with conservative surgery, with free margins. This was followed by external radiotherapy to the breast of up to 46 Gy and one application of brachytherapy with needles inserted into the surgical bed, and administering 7 Gy to 90% with high dose rate (HDR)., Results: With a mean follow-up of 43 months, only one patient had therapeutic failure in the implant area, and local control was 98.5%. Another patient had a 2nd tumour in a different quadrant and 3 developed metastasis. Survival at 5 years was 98.7%. Acute toxicity was minimal, with excellent or good cosmetic appearance in 95%., Conclusions: Brachytherapy with high dose rate as single fraction boost in conservative treatment of breast carcinoma is simple, fast, well tolerated, with excellent local control, good cosmetic appearance, and with minimal late-onset toxicity.

Introduction: The increased risk of developing a transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) among patients irradiated for other pathologies in a known fact, but many times forgotten due to its low incidence. Our aim is to review the association between radiotherapy (RT) and muscle-infiltrating TCC among our patients., Material and Methods: Clinical survey among our muscle-infiltrating TCC data base since 1975. Descriptive analysis of found cases., Results: We found 5 patients who developed muscle-infiltrating TCC with a mean time of 19.2 years since radiotherapy (three of them more than 20 years and the other two less than 10 years). Three patients also developed other tumours or pathologies related to radiotherapy. Two of them had an upper tract muscle-infiltrating TCC and required nephroureterectomy. All of them had high risk TCC of the bladder and one developed distant metastasis., Conclusions: Patients under abdomino-pelvic RT and a prolongued follow-up, can be considered a risk group for developing muscle-infiltrating TCC. Thus, either micro or macrohaematuria or irritative symptoms should lead us to think in this possibility, demanding complete and exhaustive study to rule out TCC in all the urothelium.