[Modern radiotherapy techniques in the treatment of tumour of the base of tongue].

AIM: To demonstrate the role, the execution and the importance of the computed tomography (CT) based three-dimensional brachytherapy and conformal percutan radiotherapy in the treatment of the advanced tumour of the base of tongue. METHODS: Between January 1993 and June 2000, 27 patients with stage III-IV squamous cell cancers of the base of tongue were treated after 60 Gy percutan irradiation with interstitial, high dose rate brachytherapy (23 patients) or conformal, multi-fields radiotherapy (4 patients) as a boost. The dose of the boost irradiation varied between 12 and 24 Gy. RESULTS: Boost irradiation was well tolerated by the patients. The local tumour control at the mean follow-up period (39 months) was 52%. Using this two treatment methods in case of percutan conformal irradiation 6%, in case of brachytherapy 1.5% of the mandible received the prescribed boost dose. The spinal cord received a maximum of 15%, and 8% of the boost dose, respectively, depending on the two treatment types. CONCLUSION: With the help of these two radiotherapeutic modalities locally higher cumulative dose and better tumour control can be achieved without the higher risk of radiation injury of the surrounding normal tissues and the two most critical organs (medulla, mandible).