Dosimetric Evaluation and Clinical Application of Radioactive Iodine-125 Brachytherapy Stent in the Treatment of Malignant Esophageal Obstruction

ObjectiveTo evaluate the dosimetric characteristics and the clinical application of radioactive iodine-125 brachytherapy stent (RIBS) in malignant esophageal obstruction.MethodsThe dose distribution of RIBS with different seed spacing, diameter and length was studied by treatment planning system (TPS) calculation, thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) measurement and Monte Carlo (MC) data fitting. And the data of esophageal cancer patients who were treat with this type of RIBS was analyzed retrospectively.ResultsDoses around the RIBS calculated by the TPS lay between those measured by the TLDs and those simulated by the MC, and the differences between the three methods were significant (pConclusionTPS calculations are suitable for clinical applications. RIBS can effectively alleviate obstructive symptoms for patients with malignant esophageal obstruction, but the incidence of fatal complications was high, care should be taken when choosing this treatment.