These cases are then usually treated with external beam radiation therapy to the pelvis and vagina (total dose 4,000 to 5,000 cGy given in divided doses five days a week for four to five weeks). This is followed by either a temporary cesium insertion or the placing of radioactive iridium directly into the cancer (interstitial implant). Sometimes radiation therapy precedes surgery.
Endometrial cancer that extends locally outside the uterus is usually treated with radiation therapy—five weeks of external radiation therapy to the pelvis followed by two temporary cesium insertions two weeks apart or by a radioactive iridium interstitial implant—followed by surgery, if possible.
Five-Year Survival Up to 30 percent
Investigational See Stage IIb
Stage IIIc
Metastases to the pelvic and/or para-aortic lymph nodes .
Standard Treatment After surgery, women with positive pelvic and negative aortic lymph nodes receive external beam pelvic radiation therapy. If the para-aortic lymph nodes are involved, most gynecologic oncologists recommend radiation therapy to the aortic region as well.
