The role of interstitial therapy in present day radiotherapy.

The role of interstitial therapy in the treatment of malignant tumors is discussed. With interstitial therapy, the tumor is accurately localized under general anesthesia, irradiation is limited to the tumor-bearing volume of tissues with minimal irradiation of normal structures, and treatment time is shorter than with external beam therapy. Disadvantages include its rather limited clinical application, more complicated dosimetry, the higher level of technical skill required in the surgical procedure, and radiation exposure of operator and personnel.