[Results of radiotherapy of gastrointestinal malignancies]

Irradiation offers only a palliative treatment for malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract. Cancer of the rectum and rectosigmoid represents an exception; above all, preoperative irradiation improves a five year survival rate up to 15%. There is a better prognosis for non-Hodgkin's and Hodgkin's lymphomas of the entire gastrointestinal tract.