Introduction: Brachytherapy is a form of radiotherapy where a sealed radiation source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment. It is commonly used as an effective treatment for cancer of the cervix, prostate, breast, skin, etc.
Materials and methods: The data was collected from the following databases: PubMed, National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health and Research Gate with the keywords brachytherapy, history and development.
Results: Brachytherapy dates back to 1901 when Pierre Curie suggested to Henri-Alexandre Danlos that a radioactive source could be inserted into a tumor. Danlos then tested this theory and discovered that radiation caused tumors to shrink. In the early twentieth century, techniques for the application of brachytherapy were pioneered at the Curie institute in Paris by Danlos and at St. Luke`s and Memorial Hospital in New York by Robert Abbe. Gold seeds filled with radon were used as early as 1942 and limited beta rays, allowing only gamma rays to pass. First used in 1958, iridium is the most commonly used artificial source for brachytherapy today. The development of remote afterloading systems, which allowed the radiation to be delivered from a safe distance, and the use of new radioactive sources in the 1950s and 1960s, minimized the radiation exposure. In the 1990s, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scans became more widely available and they helped doctors plan and monitor the procedure. Nowadays, advanced computerized planning systems are introduced for the creation of virtual 3-D models, used to avoid damaging healthy tissues.
Conclusion: Brachytherapy is known to produce excellent long-term results, both in terms of survivability and in terms of toxicity reduction. These advantages contributed for the fast development and early usage of the method in Western Europe and the United States.
