IMR Press / EJGO / Volume 40 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.12892/ejgo4389.2019
Open Access Original Research
Is there a place for brachytherapy for patients with ovarian cancer?
Show Less
1 Radiotherapy Department, Oncology Centre in Bydgoszcz, Bydgoszcz, Poland
2 The Chair and Clinic of Oncology and Brachytherapy, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Eur. J. Gynaecol. Oncol. 2019, 40(3), 373–379; https://doi.org/10.12892/ejgo4389.2019
Published: 10 June 2019
Abstract

Ovarian cancer is currently the second cause of death among genitourinary tract neoplasms in developed countries. Surgical treatment combined with chemotherapy is the standard of treatment in ovarian cancer. Disease relapses, cases where standard therapeutic procedures proved unsuccessful and previous radiotherapy significantly limited the possibility of further radiological treatment, constitute the greatest oncological challenge. There are attempts at using radiotherapy and/or brachytherapy. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the results of brachytherapy among ovarian cancer patients with disease relapse. The study included 24 ovarian cancer patients with disease relapse, treated with brachytherapy at the Department of Brachytherapy of the Oncology Centre in Bydgoszcz from January 2008 to December 2014. Patients in all stages of the disease were subject to analysis. Disease relapse was confirmed in 23 of 24 subjects, the lesion being present beyond the vaginal stump. Twenty-one patients reported symptoms, most often spotting or vaginal bleeding. A trend toward higher survival rate in a group of patients without changes in the vaginal stump (p = 0.07) was observed. It was demonstrated that presence of lesions in the stump was associated with more frequent progression and this result was statistically significant (p = 0.035). In the entire group of patients, spotting or vaginal bleeding subsided. In summary, brachytherapy may be a useful treatment modality in selected clinical situations involving ovarian cancer. This procedure is particularly useful for women with disease relapse, parametrum infiltration, and/or incomplete tumor resection.

Keywords
Brachytherapy
Ovarian cancer
Vaginal stump
Figures
Figure 1.
Share
Back to top