Journal of Contemporary Brachytherapy

Abstract

3/2020 vol. 12
Original paper

High-dose-rate brachytherapy of primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma: the first reported case series

  1. Brachytherapy Department, Greater Poland Cancer Centre, Poznan, Poland
  2. Electroradiology Department, University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
  3. Medical Physics Department, Greater Poland Cancer Centre, Poznan, Poland
J Contemp Brachytherapy 2020; 12, 3: 241–247
Online publish date: 2020/06/30
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Introduction

Cutaneous B-cell lymphomas (CBCLs) are a rare group of diseases. External beam radiation therapy is recommended to treat CBCLs in all subtypes for locally advanced cases. However, there are no reports on high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) exclusively dedicated to CBCLs. The purpose of this paper was to report the first case series of CBCLs treated with HDR-BT.

Material and methods

Seven patients were treated between 2011 and 2019, with 12 skin lesions histopathologically proven as CBCLs. There were four T1a and eight T2a lesions. HDR-BT was prescribed as the first-line treatment for all cases, as the second-line treatment for recurrences after surgical failure for 4 patients, and as an adjuvant treatment for 1 case. The median total dose was 36 Gy (range, 30-40 Gy) in 10 fractions (range, 6-10 fractions), with a median overall treatment time of 11 days (range, 4-11 days). Treatment toxicity was assessed accordingly to the RTOG scale.

Results

The mean follow-up was 41 months. Local control was 100%. The rates of early toxicity were as follows: erythema (G1) – 33%, patchy epidermal desquamation (G2) – 25%, confluent epidermal desquamation (G3) – 25%, and minor bleeding (G4) – 17%. The reported rates of late toxicity included slight depigmentation (G1) – 59%, small telangiectasia (G2) – 8%, massive telangiectasia (G3) – 25%, and small ulceration (G4) in one site irradiated interstitially (8%).

Conclusions

HDR-BT allows for achieving high local control of CBCLs with relatively low-late toxicity in the form of skin discoloration in most patients.

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