Interstitial round needles should not be used for cervical cancer patient treated with intracavitary/ interstitial brachytherapy using a Venezia applicator : a case report

TL;DR

A case report shows that round needles with the Venezia applicator may not be suitable for cervical cancer brachytherapy due to unexpected gaps.

Contribution

This case report provides clinical evidence against using round needles with the Venezia applicator in cervical cancer brachytherapy.

Findings

Using round needles with the Venezia applicator resulted in a 1.5 cm gap between the cervix and ovoid.

Switching to sharp needles allowed for more stable and effective brachytherapy in later sessions.

Round needles may not be optimal for IC/IS BT with the Venezia applicator.

Abstract

Image-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) demonstrates an excellent local control rate and low toxicity while treating cervical cancer. For intracavitary/interstitial (IC/IS) brachytherapy (BT), several applicators are commercially available. Venezia (Elekta, Sweden), an advanced gynecological applicator, is designed for IC/IS BT for treating locally advanced cervical cancer. There are two types of interstitial needles for the Venezia applicator: the round needle and sharp needle. Generally, a round needle is safer because it has less risk of damaging the organ at risk than a sharp needle. However, there is currently no evidence to suggest that a round needle is better than a sharp needle for the Venezia applicator in IC/IS BT. Herein, we documented our experience of using both round and sharp needles with the Venezia applicator in IC/IS BT for cervical cancer.

A 71-year-old woman was diagnosed with clinical stage T2bN0M0 and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IIB cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Definitive therapy, including a high-dose-rate BT boost, was planned using a round needle with the Venezia applicator in IC/IS BT. After inserting four interstitial round needles during the first and second BT sessions, an unexpectedly large gap (1.5 cm) was detected between the cervix and ovoid. We therefore used a sharp needle with the Venezia applicator for IC/IS BT during the third and fourth BT sessions. Three sharp needles were firmly inserted during the third and fourth BT sessions.

The study findings suggest that the interstitial round needle should not be used for cervical cancer patients undergoing IC/IS BT using the Venezia applicator.

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