Fluoroscopy Technique for Tumor Localization

FOR several years I have been dissatisfied with x-ray films alone for localization of a tumor. Films will show the bony wall of the chest or pelvis, but a soft-tissue mass or tumor may not be well defined on the film. Thus, accurate localization and depthdose measurements are not possible. Fluoroscopy is the easiest, fastest, and most accurate method of localization. If possible, an opaque substance should first be introduced, and then located by fluoroscopy. The opaque substance will vary from a dummy radium capsule in the cervix to a contrast medium in the bladder or barium in the esophagus. Lead markers are placed on the skin during the fluoroscopy. They indicate the center point for the x-ray or cobalt-60 therapy portals. X-ray films, anteroposterior (AP) and lateral, are taken in the exact position (prone, supine, or oblique) in which the patient is to be treated, for confirmatory evidence of