Non-Curative Radiotherapy for Gynaecological Cancer

Abstract

Gynaecological cancer has an incidence of approximately 15 000 cases per annum in the UK, in comparison with 25 000 cases per annum of breast cancer. The three most common types of gynaecological cancer are carcinoma of the ovary, carcinoma of the cervix and carcinoma of the endometrium, with approximately equal incidences but very varying mortality rates. Although at 5 years only 20–30% of patients with ovarian cancer will be alive, the opposite is true of cancer of the endometrium and half of those patients diagnosed with cervical cancer will be alive. Overall, approximately 50% of patients with gynaecological cancer will be cured of their disease, but the other 50% will either develop local recurrence or metastasis, to which they will eventually succumb.