ABSTRACT

Historically, the irst application of radiation for the therapeutic purpose was made in 1896 in Chicago by Grubbe for the treatment of breast cancer and the irst case of the cure of malignant tumour by radiotherapy alone was reported on a patient with squamous carcinoma of the nose. Radiation therapy is deined as the use of high-energy radiation from X-ray, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, and other sources to kill cancer cells and shrink tumours. Radiation therapy is the most effective non-surgical treatment of cancer. Gynaecologic cancers were among the irst malignancies treated with ionizing radiation more than 100 years ago. It remains an essential component of both as primary treatment and adjuvant post-operative treatment of selected gynaecological malignancies. Radiation therapy can also be palliative in metastatic disease and frequently used to alleviate the symptoms as a result of tumour invasion such as in bone, spine and brain metastases.