AUTHOR=Roussakis Yiannis , Anagnostopoulos Georgios 

TITLE=Physical and Dosimetric Aspects of the Iridium-Knife

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.728452

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2021.728452

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p>The three-dimensional iridium-192 (<sup>192</sup>Ir) high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy manifests itself as a high-precision, hypofractionated, dose-escalating, minimally invasive method in the armamentarium of contemporary radiation oncology clinical applications. In this study, the physical aspects of the <sup>192</sup>Ir radionuclide are presented. Its dosimetric application in HDR brachytherapy for different anatomical sites (prostate, gynecological malignancies, liver, and intrathoracic tumors) as well as the corresponding dosimetric comparison with the stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) techniques based on a representative selection of dosimetric publications is reviewed and illustrated.</p>