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High-Grade Gliomas pp 245–256Cite as

Brachytherapy

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Part of the book series: Current Clinical Oncology ((CCO))

Abstract

Surgical resection alone is insufficient in the treatment of malignant gliomas because of the extensive infiltration of tumor cells into surrounding normal brain. Even with adjuvant external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), median survival times are poor. Local recurrence eventually results in death for these patients. Thus, radiation therapy that targets the focal area of the initial tumor occurrence may be useful. Clinical evidence suggests that successful radiation treatment of malignant gliomas is dose dependent. However, treatment with doses of EBRT greater than 60 Gy is not beneficial to patients. In most cases, treatment of the bed of surgical resection with radiosurgery is impractical because of the large volume of the tumor resected as well as the risk of radiation necrosis. Brachytherapy is an appealing modality in such cases because it permits the delivery of localized radiation therapy to the area at greatest risk for recurrence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, CA

    Marcus L. Ware & Michael W. McDermott

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, CA

    P. K. Sneed

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  1. Marcus L. Ware
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  2. P. K. Sneed
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  3. Michael W. McDermott
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurological Surgery Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Brain Tumor Institute, Cleveland, OH

    Gene H. Barnett MD

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© 2007 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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Ware, M.L., Sneed, P.K., McDermott, M.W. (2007). Brachytherapy. In: Barnett, G.H. (eds) High-Grade Gliomas. Current Clinical Oncology. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-185-7_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-185-7_14

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-511-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-185-7

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