An Update on Brachytherapy for Cervical Cancer: A Review

Abstract

Introduction: Cervical cancer remains one of the most common malignancies affecting women worldwide, with over 600,000 patients globally every year, and is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women. Although there have been advancements in both screening and prevention, radiation therapy, with or without chemotherapy, is the standard of care for treating locally advanced cervical cancer. Radiation typically consists of two methods, external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and brachytherapy, which have both evolved in their own respective ways technologically and for patient accessibility. This article aims to review the different cervical cancer brachytherapy techniques, such as intracavitary and interstitial approaches, including their advantages and drawbacks.
Methods: Resources on PubMed between the years 2000 and 2024 were reviewed
based on their relevance to the approaches of brachytherapy. Articles were found through the use of key terms and Boolean operators such as ("cervical cancer,” AND “brachytherapy," OR “high dose rate brachytherapy,”) OR (“intracavitary,” OR “interstitial brachytherapy,” OR “hybrid brachytherapy,”).
Discussion: Three techniques of brachytherapy are de: intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT), interstitial brachytherapy (ISBT), and hybrid intracavitary/interstitial brachytherapy (HBT).
Conclusion: Brachytherapy is a vital part of definitive cervical cancer treatment. While ICBT remains the standard of care for most cervical cancers, ISBT and HBT approaches remain important treatment options. HBT has been shown to address variances in patient anatomy and tumor geometry, resulting in better tumor dose coverage and improved outcomes through minimizing toxicity.