Comparison of 60Co and 192Ir sources in HDR brachytherapy

This paper compares the isotopes 60Co and 192Ir as radiation sources for high-dose-rate (HDR) afterloadingbrachytherapy. The smaller size of 192Ir sources made it the preferred radionuclide for temporary brachytherapy treatments.Recently also 60Co sources have been made available with identical geometrical dimensions. This paper comparesthe characteristics of both nuclides in different fields of brachytherapy based on scientific literature. In an additionalpart of this paper reports from medical physicists of several radiation therapy institutes are discussed. The purposeof this work is to investigate the advantages or disadvantages of both radionuclides for HDR brachytherapy due to theirphysical differences. The motivation is to provide useful information to support decision-making procedures in theselection of equipment for brachytherapy treatment rooms. The results of this work show that no advantages or disadvantagesexist for 60Co sources compared to 192Ir sources with regard to clinical aspects. Nevertheless, there are potentiallogistical advantages of 60Co sources due to its longer half-life (5.3 years vs. 74 days), making it an interesting alternativeespecially in developing countries.