[Prognosis and radiotherapy of endometrial carcinoma]

The increase in the occurrence of corpus carcinoma and the influence that special problems (accompanying diseases, age, histology, radiation technique) have on the survival of the patient make it necessary to reconsider indication and technique in radiation. Even though 80% of the cases are in stage I which indicates a favourable prognosis for surgical treatment, many new therapeutical questions have presented themselves and should not, in the future, need to be answered by the experience in clinics or in medical centers alone. Patients with corpus carcinoma should therefore not be treated on the basis of a fixed program, rather, through a flexible program suited to the individual patient's needs. Aside from the demands for precise histological diagnosis (including grading) and better grouping of the stages (pelvic and paraaortic lymphnode involvement in stage I at least 10%, in stage II 40%!) future analysis should be improved, resulting in a decision for higher grading or an increase of the dose in radiation therapy of the tumor in the 2. and 3. stages. In order to accomplish this, better techniques in radiation therapy and communication with the gynecologists and pathologists is necessary, so that a mutual concept for therapy, improving the chances of cure can be developed. Proof that this is entirely possible can be seen in statistics of the last years (Annual Report 1981, results from Department of Gynecology, Freiburg i. Br.).