Tumour regression as a guide to prognosis: a clinical study

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Abstract
The response seen at the end of a course of radiotherapy in 116 patients with advanced carcinoma of the cervix included in hyperbaric oxygen trials was assessed by reduction in bulk and by histological examination. These patients have now been carefully followed for a minimum of three and a maximum of 13 years. The degree of regression, as measured by reduction in bulk at the primary site, was found to predict closely the subsequent local tumour failure, survival and freedom from metastasis. The histological assessment also could be associated with the subsequent course, but the correlation was much weaker. In a trial of hyperbaric oxygen, where radiotherapy was given in 27 fractions to both groups, the immediate response was significantly better in the patients treated in oxygen, so predicting the result of the trial seen in long-term follow up. In the radiotherapy of carcinoma of cervix, reduction in bulk of the primary tumour at the end of treatment is a valuable prognostic index.