The treatment of early cancer of the corpus uteri

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Abstract
The results of postoperative radiotherapy in 256 cases of cancer of the corpus uteri were analyzed. Myometrial invasion by tumor was significantly related to histological grading (P < 0.001) as it was to recurrence rates (P < 0.025). By placing patients into 1 of 3 subsets according to the depth of myometrial invasion, survival was sufficiently different for each subset to validate their use, not only for prognostic purposes but to determine the type of radiotherapy indicated. Radiotherapy was given as local intravaginal treatment using an obturator loaded with 60Co or a combination of this and external beam teletherapy. The value of using radiotherapy to treat the whole pelvis as opposed to treating only the vaginal tissues was significant (P < 0.01) in terms of local disease control for the deep myometrial invasive group. In terms of survival, external beam therapy was of benefit for all 3 subsets, i.e., superficial, not more than half, and more than half myometrial invasion. A planned approach to postoperative radiotherapy was significantly better for the series as a whole compared to previous ad hoc approaches (P < 0.01). The treatment methods used did not produce unacceptable morbidity.

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