← Return to Radiation or not after surgery for endometrial cancer?

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Profile picture for Helen, Volunteer Mentor @naturegirl5

@ramidimitri Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. This is a good place to get support for you and your wife as we have lots of experience to share here. We aren't medical professionals but we can share our own experiences and make suggestions on what to ask the doctors.

I was diagnosed with a less aggressive kind of uterine cancer than your wife. Mine was endometrioid adenocarcinoma, FIGO Grade 1, Stage 1a. I had a radical hysterectomy and no further treatment at the time. Two years later I had a recurrence and the recommendation was for radiation therapy. I had 25 external pelvic radiation treatments and 2 internal (brachytherapy vaginal) treatments. I did not have chemotherapy.

Many of us here have external and internal radiation and were not asked to choose between the two options. I'm wondering why your wife is asked to choose? My recurrence was found at the top of vaginal (the vaginal cuff) which is why the internal treatment was recommended along with the external treatment. My understanding is that internal vs. external is not a question of which is better but instead which is more effective for treatment.

Here is something to read about radiation therapy from Mayo Clinic:

Mayo Clinic: Radiation Therapy

-- https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/radiation-therapy/about/pac-20385162

American Cancer Society: Radiation Therapy for Endometrial Cancer:

-- https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/endometrial-cancer/treating/radiation.html

Let's wait and see what other members share about their experiences with radiation. May I ask where you and your wife live? Are you in the U.S. or Canada?

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Replies to "@ramidimitri Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. This is a good place to get support for you..."

@naturegirl5
Thank you so much for sharing your experience , we live in Montreal Canada , and I understood that may be every hospital and country has slightly different protocol , I heard the european approach is different than the north american one..My wife is in a state of fear , and often when you are afraid you don't take the right decision , she has tendency to believe more is better , but I am trying to open her eyes at the long term side effects