The role of brachytherapy in the treatment of primary and recurrent vulvar cancer
SP-0009
Abstract
The role of brachytherapy in the treatment of primary and recurrent vulvar cancer
1Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpetrière, 75013, PARIS, France
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Abstract Text
Locally advanced vulvar cancer still have a poor prognosis, because of a high risk of local relapse, even in the context of chemoradiation. The morbidity associated with most widely accepted approaches, mainly relying on chemoradiation +/- surgery, is also substantial, with frequent impact on patients quality of life. Interstitial brachytherapy was developped in few centers to increase focally the dose in the contexte of dose escalation for advanced vulvar cancer, but also to better spare uninvolved parts of the vulva and to decrease doses to organs at risk, such as the anal canal or the urethra. Brachytherapy is also proposed to treat focally patients with close or positive margins, as exclusive treatment when re-excision would be mutilating. This challenging brachytherapy procedure should be performed in centers familiar with interstitial procedures, and some concepts derived from primary vaginal cancer in terms of target delineation may applied, though with specificities and limitations. In this presentation, the role of brachytherapy for vulvar cancer is emphasized. Main indications are detailled, and technical specificities associated with brachytherapy for vulvar cancer are described.