Role of external radiation therapy in urinary cancers.
Invasive urinary tumors are relatively rare and their treatment may cause important changes in urinary, sexual, and social functions. A systematic review of external radiation therapy studies in urinary cancers has been carried out. This synthesis of the literature is based on data from meta-analysis, randomized and prospective trials, and retrospective studies. There are few controlled clinical trials using adjuvant or radical radiotherapy +/- chemotherapy in kidney, ureter, and urethra cancers; there are several reports of muscle-invasive bladder cancer using multimodality treatment: intravesical surgery and neo-adjuvant chemotherapy to radiotherapy or concomitant radiochemotherapy with organ preservation. The conclusions reached for renal cancer are controversial; urethra and ureter cancers data are few and inconclusive; sufficient data now exist in literature to demonstrate that conservative management with organ preservation, for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, is a valid alternative to radical cystectomy, viewed as the gold standard.
Parisi
S
S
Department of Radiation Oncology, Istituti di ricovero e cura a carattere scientifico Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. radioterapia@operapadrepio.it
Troiano
M
M
Corsa
P
P
Raguso
A
A
Cossa
S
S
Piazzolla
E E
EE
Munafò
T
T
Sanpaolo
G
G
Natuno
A
A
Maiello
E
E
D006801:Humans; D014516:Ureteral Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D014523:Urethral Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery