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

BACKGROUND: 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.

CASE PRESENTATION: 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.

CONCLUSIONS: 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.