Use of a remote controlled radiotherapy afterloading system to manage unresectable, metastatic thyroid cancer in the trachea

We treated a 66-year-old Japanese woman with metastasis from thyroid papillary adenocarcinoma to mediastinal lymph nodes that obstructed the airway by its extensions towards the tracheal carina. Since the patient suffered from severe dyspnea, an endotracheal intubation was inserted and endotracheal radiotherapy was done using a remote controlled afterloading system. The obstruction mass in the trachea almost disappeared and there has been no evidence of regrowth during a follow-up period fo more than 3 years. The patient's management is now detailed.