The integration of irradiation and surgery as the treatment for selected cancers

Combinations of radiation therapy with surgery originated when the surgeon thought he had transected cancer. Unrealistic expectations, however, plagued these combinations until it was appreciated that the dose required to eradicate a given cancerous mass varied primarily with its volume and the associated oxygen tension of its cells. This helped to establish the rationale for combining irradiation and surgery and enabled the radiation therapist to more closely tailor dose needs to each specific clinical problem. Tailoring of dose remains crude. Our greatest errors continue to be attributable to poor definition of tumor extent and the underestimation of residual tumor volume. We need more precise information from the surgeon and pathologist along with greater knowledge of patterns of spread. To the degree that such added information becomes available, we have the means to increase loco-regional control rates.