Certain patients with a diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) may be candidates for Interstitial High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy.

Interstitial HDR of STS requires the placement of multiple catheters in the region of the STS tumor site. While the patient is under general anesthesia, the surgeon and radiation oncologist place the catheters into the patient. Three days after the placement of the catheters, the patient will go to the Radiation Oncology department to have a CT scan for treatment planning purposes. Following the CT scan, the physician and physics staff will create a treatment plan based on the location of the implanted catheters and the defined treatment area. Hospitalization may be required during the course of treatment depending on the size and location of the implant.

Treatment begins five days after surgery. The patient is placed on a bed in the HDR Brachytherapy suite in the same position as the CT planning scan. Guide tubes are connected to the HDR remote afterloader unit, which houses the radioactive source used in treatment. The guide tubes are attached to the implanted catheters.

During treatment, the radioactive source is attached to a wire that travels through the catheters and is directed to specified locations. Treatment time is related to the size of the tumor, and typically it will be about 15-20 minutes. The patient should not experience any pain during the treatment.

A full course of HDR therapy will typically consist of two to six treatments and may be administered twice a day with a six-hour break in between treatments.