AN EVALUATION OF RADIATION IN THE TREATMENT OF CARCINOMA OF THE CORPUS UTERI

Abstract

During the past three years three out of five and in the latest group all the candidates for the National Board certificate, when asked by me for the treatment of cancer of the corpus, gave hysterectomy as the only method. If the teaching received by these students is reflected in these answers, it is at variance with the practice and published reports of most of those particularly interested in the development of treatment for this disease, who with few exceptions give radiation an important role in the treatment of both operable and inoperable cases. In view of this apparent discrepancy between precept and practice, it seems important that the therapy of cancer of the corpus be reviewed until the merits of the various procedures become established. While with few exceptions all agree that hysterectomy, if feasible, should be performed at some time, some operators question the value of radiation. This