Clinical Evaluation of Prosthesis-Like Applicators with Radioactive Seeds for Treatment of Eleven Palatal Glandular Malignancies

PRUPOSE:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of prosthesis-like applicators with radioactive seeds in treatment of palatal glandular malignancy.METHODS:Eleven patients with palatal glandular malignant tumors were treated with surgical resection and postoperative 125I radioactive seed brachytherapy. After resection of the palatal tumors, a prosthesis denture was fabricated for each patient. According to the design of treatment plan system, several 125I radioactive seeds were embedded in the tissue surface of the prosthesis at the same time. All the patients were followed-up for 6 to 24 months and the results were evaluated. SPSS 21.0 software package was used for statistical analysis.RESULTS:Eleven patients could wear prosthesis-like applicators all the time and neither tumor recurrence nor metastasis were found around the target area during the follow-up period. Furthermore, significant improvement was shown in terms of speech, mastication and facial appearance for all patients after prosthesis-like applicator restorations.CONCLUSIONS:For patients with palatal glandular malignant tumors, prosthesis-like applicators with 125I radioactive seed brachytherapy may be effective for preventing recurrence and metastasis of the malignancies and improving the patients'quality of life.