HDR intraluminal brachytherapy for lung tumours--a case report.

The lung is a common site for cancer to occur, for both primary as well as metastases. The presence of such tumours can give rise to symptoms such as haemoptysis, cough, breathlessness and pneumonia. In most cases, treatment is strictly for palliation. We present a case report of a patient with an endobronchial metastasis from a primary hypernephroma which recurred following external beam radiotherapy. He was treated with a single fraction of intraluminal brachytherapy to a dose of 10Gy at 1 cm from the axis on a High Dose Rate Ir192 Remote Afterloading Machine. There were no adverse effects following treatment. On follow-up 7 months later, the patient did not have any further recurrence of breathlessness although his disease had progressed at other sites.