Dear Readers,

I heartily welcome you to a new JCB issue 2/2026 (April-June), consisting fifteen manuscripts of varied themes: a letter to the editor, eight clinical papers, two physics contributions, three technical notes, and a case report. Since our founding, we have employed a double-blind peer-review process, with all manuscripts managed by expert brachytherapy specialists and physicists. This maintains high-quality management of the submissions and improves publication quality. And it paid off. As a token of acknowledgment, our impact factor for 2025 improved, reaching 1.5 points! Congratulations to all authors, editors, and reviewers.

The current issue opens with a letter to the editor by Jiayi Chen (China), who comments on our previous submission comparing swallowing function in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma after upfront brachytherapy followed by IMRT vs. surgery [1]. As he rightly emphasized, the authors should be commended for addressing an often underexplored yet clinically crucial endpoint, i.e., post-treatment swallowing function.

Among the following eight clinical papers, the first focuses on MRI-based image-guided salvage HDR-BT for locally recurrent prostate cancer after initial prostatectomy and EBRT. In this long-term single-institution series by Patricia Willisch et al. (Spain), salvage brachytherapy provided durable local control (53% at 6 years) with acceptable toxicity. In the second clinical paper, Kilaru Sneha et al. (India) posed a question of whether “we can scare the bad scar”, and studied the efficacy of perioperative HDR interstitial BT in keloids. At two years, 87.5% of the scars were “scared off” and did not recur. Please refer to previous data [2]. The third submission from Efstathios T. Detorakis et al. (Greece) reports on ruthenium-based ocular surface BT in incompletely excised conjunctival melanoma and SCC. It may represent an effective sole adjunctive treatment option for selected incompletely excised cases. In the fourth paper, Adam Deja et al. (Poland) also explored ¹⁰⁶Ru BT plaques. They presented unique data on salvage treatment with fractionated SRT after ¹⁰⁶Ru BT failure, which provided excellent local control with acceptable toxicity. Nevertheless, in selected patients with recurrent uveal melanoma, the approach represents an effective, non-invasive alternative to mutilating enucleation.

Another four clinical manuscripts relate to gynecological malignancies. Jennifer S. Chiang et al. (USA) assessed the value of pre-brachytherapy MRI in selecting applicators for cervical cancer treatment. Emily Smith et al. (USA), based on their results, suggested a significant dosimetric benefit of adding supplementary interstitial needles, even for small-volume cervical tumors, enabling enhanced dose shaping to improve HR-CTV coverage and achieve
EMBRACE-II target dosing goals, while maintaining normal tissue sparing. Abhishek Shinghal et al. (India) retrospectively reviewed their SATF (single application two fractions) study on HDR-BT with chemoradiation. It offers favorable disease control, acceptable late toxicities, and good dosimetry while optimizing overall treatment time in cervical cancer management – especially effective in high-volume, resource-constrained LMIC settings. Varsha Hande et al. (India, the Netherlands) explored automated planning in IGABT for cervical cancer and analyzed its impact on patient workflows in high-volume centers. In their study, automated IGABT treatment planning significantly reduced planning time, hence enhanced efficiency.

Among two physics contributions, Chaoxing Liu et al. (China), through a dosimetric analysis and a literature review, sought to determine whether image-guided EBRT boost can serve as an alternative when intracavitary BT is unavailable for LACC. Certainly, BT remains the standard of care, and modern EBRT techniques may offer a promising alternative in resource-constrained settings. In the second, Paul Simpson et al. (Australia, UK, USA) emphasized that there is an increasing discrepancy between locally measured ¹⁹²Ir HDR source strength and manufacturer’s certificate. The manufacturer’s measurement procedure does not meet the same standard as the one determined for the user. Thus, brachytherapy societies may need to revisit the requirement to directly compare local and manufacturer’s measurements.

The first technical note by Sruthi Sivabhaskar et al. (USA) focuses on the development of a patient-specific adaptive ring for organ at risk contours in HDR-BT for gynecologic cancers. Such an approach allows fraction-specific adaptation; it reduces contouring workload and maintains dosimetric accuracy. The second note by Bojan Pavičar et al. (Bosnia and Herzegovina) addresses an automated EQD₂ reporting for cervical cancer HDR-BT using a standalone ESAPI-based application. The APP provides accurate, efficient, and reproducible automated EQD₂ reporting for cervical BT, reducing manual transcription and operator-dependent variability, while supports reporting consistent with ICRU 89 and EMBRACE II guidelines. The third technical note by Siddanna R. Palled et al. (India) features a hybrid adjuvant therapy using 3D-printed orbital BT and SBRT for a challenging, anatomically complex recurrent adenoid cystic carcinoma. The strategy allows optimal target coverage while respecting OAR constraints.

The last paper submitted by Shelby Watts et al. (USA), a case report that hit our cover, is a presentation of concurrent chemoradiation and HDR-BT for synchronous muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma and very high-risk prostate cancer. Although feasible and effective, such complex treatment remains challenging [3].

Sincerely yours,

Assoc. Prof. Adam Chicheł, MD, PhD

Editor-in-Chief

Journal of Contemporary Brachytherapy