RADIATION THERAPY FOR GYNECOLOGIC CANCERS
Understanding Your Treatment Options

Screening for Gynecologic Cancer

The following screening exams are used to detect gynecologic cancers.

• A pelvic exam performed by your physician to evaluate your vulva, vagina, cervix, uterus, Fallopian tubes, ovaries and rectum.
• During the pelvic exam, your doctor will gently scrape some cells from the cervix and vagina to examine under a microscope. This is called a Pap test.
• If the Pap test is abnormal, your doctor may perform a test called a colposcopy to closely examine the cervix. Scraping cells from the cervical canal (endocervical curettage) may also be necessary.
• A biopsy, which includes a small sample of tissue that is taken from any suspicious area.
• Occasionally, doctors need to examine a larger sample of cervical tissue. It is obtained during a procedure called conization or cone biopsy.
• In some situations, your doctor may recommend an exam under anesthesia to better evaluate the extent of a cancer. Tests requiring anesthesia include examination of the bladder (cystoscopy) and rectum (sigmoidoscopy).
• Abnormal uterine bleeding, a common symptom of uterine cancer, is usually evaluated by performing a dilatation and curettage, also called a D and C.
• Your doctor may also request an MRI, CT, PET or ultrasound scans of the abdomen and pelvis to better evaluate areas that cannot be directly viewed, such as the ovaries.

Treatment Options for Gynecologic Cancer

Treatment for gynecologic cancer depends on several factors, including the type of cancer, its extent (stage), its location and your overall health. Patients should talk with several cancer specialists before deciding on the best treatment for them, their cancer and their lifestyle.

• Gynecologic oncologists specialize in surgically removing gynecologic cancers.
• Radiation oncologists are specially trained to treat cancer with radiation therapy.
• Medical oncologists specialize in treating cancer with drugs (chemotherapy).

Sometimes, cancer may be cured with only one type of treatment. In other cases, using a combination of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are best.

Understanding Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy, sometimes called radiotherapy, is the careful use of radiation to safely and effectively treat cancer.

• Radiation oncologists use radiation therapy to attempt to cure cancer, to control cancer growth or to relieve symptoms, such as pain.
• Radiation therapy damages cancer cells’ ability to multiply. When these cells die, the body naturally eliminates them.
• Radiation also affects healthy tissues, but they can repair themselves in a way cancer cells cannot.

External Beam Radiation Therapy

External beam radiation therapy involves a series of daily outpatient treatments to accurately deliver radiation to the cancer. Each treatment is painless and is similar to getting an X-ray. Treatments are often given in a series of daily sessions, each taking less than half an hour, Monday through Friday, for five to six weeks. In some cases, patients may receive more than one treatment in a day, often several hours apart.

• 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, or 3D-CRT, combines multiple radiation treatment fields to deliver exact doses of radiation to the affected area. Tailoring each of the radiation beams to focus on the tumor delivers a high dose of radiation to the tumor, avoiding nearby healthy tissue.
• Intensity modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT, is the most recent advance in the delivery of radiation. IMRT takes 3D-CRT a step further by modifying the intensity of the radiation within each of the beams. This allows more targeted adjustment of radiation doses to the tissues within the affected area.

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