Radiotherapy of vaginal carcinoma

Primary invasive vaginal carcinoma is a rare gynaecological malignancy, but shows many parallels with cervical carcinoma. No standard therapies exist, while operative treatment is difficult due to the close proximity of other organs in the pelvis. Modern therapeutic strategies are based on the specif ic anatomical criteria of tumour stage, localisation and lymphatic drainage , and are planned in an interdisciplinary manner. Radiotherapy has traditionally been highly regarded as part of an interdisc iplinary therapeutic approach. In the advanced stages of the disease,it rem ains an effective and successful form of treatment, and is the treatment of choice (usually as a combination of teletherapy and modern brachytherapy). Progress in modern techniques of irradiation using computer-assisted plann ing and differentiated afterloading procedures provide the possibility of i ndividualised treatment while ensuring good protection for neighbouring org ans.