Curative potential of primary whole-abdomen irradiation in ovarian carcinoma.
Ovarian carcinoma remains a leading cause of cancer mortality in American women. The identification of active chemotherapy drugs and regimens has resulted in much less frequent use of radiation therapy at a time when technical and conceptual advances have been made. Unfortunately, the shift from radiotherapy to chemotherapy has not produced a discernible improvement in patient survival. Retrospective and prospective data suggest that whole-abdomen irradiation offers curative potential in patients with nonbulky residual disease after surgical cytoreduction. Its use should therefore be reconsidered as a primary adjuvant therapy in properly selected patients.
Randall
M E
ME
Department of Radiology (Section on Radiation Oncology), Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27103.
D000005:Abdomen; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery