Interstitial template brachytherapy by MUPIT is a good alternative to deliver high dose radiation in locally advanced gynecological malignancies where conventional brachytherapy application is either not feasible or likely to give optimal dose distribution. Loco regional control obtained is definitely better than EBRT alone and within the accepted range of complications.

Solitary plasmacytoma most commonly presents in bone (80%), while extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) is an uncommon (20%) entity that most commonly involves nasopharynx or upper respiratory tract. Involvement of the gastrointestinal tract occurs in approximated 10% of EMP cases, in that also solitary EMP of the rectum is an exceedingly rare entity. Here we are presenting a case of 55-year-old male patient who was diagnosed to have EMP of rectum in September 2012 who was initially operated in which de-bulking surgery with abdominoperineal resection was done with large residual lesion postoperatively. Then patient was treated with postoperative radiotherapy (RT) with conventional portals 40 Gy in 20 fractions with complete response at 3 months. Patient was followed-up until now (1 year and 2 months post-RT), without any symptom or recurrence.

PurposeRandomized trials on the effect of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with or without vaginal brachytherapy (VBT) for endometrial carcinoma are very few. In view of this, the current study was conducted with the hypothesizes: whether the escalated dose of 26 Gy (VBT alone) in comparison with various major international trials (PORTEC-2) has any difference in rates of disease-free and overall survival with fewer adverse effects in low resource setting like India.Material and methodsAn open-labeled, non-inferiority, randomized control trial was undertaken at a regional cancer center among patients with stage IA or IB high-intermediate risk endometrial carcinoma. A total of 50 patients were divided equally among two arms of combined EBRT with VBT (arm I) and VBT alone (arm II). A dose of 50-50.4 Gy in 25-28 fractions of EBRT with 2 fractions of VBT 6.5 Gy each were delivered to patients in arm I and 4 fractions of VBT 6.5 Gy each to patients in arm II, and were followed up for 60 months.ResultsDuring the median follow-up of 36.5 months, two patients developed loco-regional recurrence in arm II, three (arm II), and one (arm I) developed distant metastasis. The 5-year survival rates for arms I and II were 96.0% vs. 92.0% overall, and 88.0% vs. 84.0% disease-free, respectively, and were not found to be statistically significantly different. Dermatological, gastro-intestinal toxicities, and cystitis were lower in the VBT group compared to combined group.ConclusionsVBT alone is as effective as EBRT+VBT in ensuring loco-regional control and achieving comparable survival rates, with fewer toxic effects for patients with stage I intermediate- and high-risk endometrial carcinoma. The dose escalation did not make a difference in the survival rates and was like in the other major trials (PORTEC-2).

Sixty-one percent of patients were candidates for surgical resection. X-knife is a good modality of treatment for a low-grade AVM situated in eloquent areas of the brain and also for high-grade AVMs, when the surgical risk and morbidity is high.

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