PLACE OF RADIATION-THERAPY FOR THE TREATM ENT OF GYNECOLOGIC AND UROLOGIC TUMORS IN 1994

External-beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy are currently used b oth as curative and as palliative therapy in patients with gynecologic and urologic tumors. Ionizing radiation plays a key role in the locor egional control of uterine and prostatic tumors, in particular in comb ination with surgery. External-beam radiation therapy in combination w ith concomitant radiosensitizing chemotherapy may allow conservation o f the bladder in patients with infiltrating vesical tumors classically treated by cystectomy. It has beneficial effects on some of the most incapacitating complications of these cancers: its hemostatic effect i s valuable in patients with vaginal bleeding or hematuria and it relie ves the pain due to bone metastases, which are particularly common in prostatic cancer. Furthermore, use of high energy accelerators, develo pment of better imaging techniques, and advances in dosimetry have sub stantially reduced the rate of delayed radiation-induced complications . Thus, external-beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy are importan t tools for the treatment of gynecologic and urologic tumors. A discus sion is provided of the role of radiation therapy in the four most com mon types of gynecologic and urologic cancer: cancers of the prostate, bladder, uterine cervix, and uterine corpus.