About radiotherapy for womb cancer

This page tells you when radiotherapy is used to treat womb cancer. There is information about

A quick guide to what's on this page
What radiotherapy is and why you may have it
How you have radiotherapy
More information about radiotherapy

About radiotherapy for womb cancer

Radiotherapy uses high energy waves to kill cancer cells. You may have radiotherapy for womb cancer as well as surgery or instead of surgery. Your specialist may suggest radiotherapy as your main treatment if your cancer is locally advanced. This means the cancer has grown outside your womb and would be difficult to completely remove surgically, but may be curable with radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy after surgery aims to treat lymph nodes around the womb and pelvis that the cancer might have spread to. Radiotherapy can also be useful for a womb cancer that comes back after surgery (recurrent cancer), for example in the vagina.

How you have radiotherapy

Most women will have radiotherapy both externally and internally.

You usually have a course of a few weeks of treatment externally. This means going to the radiotherapy department daily.

For internal treatment, the doctor puts the radioactive source inside your vagina. You may have internal radiotherapy as an inpatient or outpatient. This depends on the type of treatment you are having and on the type of equipment the hospital has.

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Radiotherapy uses high energy waves to kill cancer cells. The main treatment for womb cancer is surgery but you may have radiotherapy as well as surgery or instead of surgery for early stage cancers.

You may have radiotherapy instead of an operation if you are not fit enough to have surgery. Or, rarely, if you really don't want to have an operation.

Your specialist may suggest radiotherapy as your main treatment if your cancer is locally advanced. This means the cancer has grown outside your womb and would be difficult to completely remove surgically, but may be curable with radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy after surgery is called adjuvant radiotherapy. The aim of treatment is to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. The stage of your womb cancer affects whether you will need to have radiotherapy after surgery. You are most likely to have it if

You have a fast growing, high grade womb cancer
Your cancer was stage 1B
Your cancer had spread to your lymph nodes by the time it was diagnosed

The aim of the treatment is to treat lymph nodes around the womb and pelvis where the cancer might have spread to. The radiotherapy will also cover the top of the vagina, where there could also be cancer cells.

Because the benefit of radiotherapy for womb cancer is still being tested, your specialist may ask you to take part in a clinical trial. Look in the clinical trials database for trials into radiotherapy and surgery for womb cancer. Choose 'womb' from the dropdown menu of cancer types.

Radiotherapy can also be useful for a womb cancer that comes back after surgery (recurrent cancer), for example in the vagina.

For gynaecological cancers, doctors give radiotherapy externally or internally. Most women will have both of these types of treatment for womb cancer.

You usually have a course of a few weeks of external radiotherapy treatment. This means going to the radiotherapy department each day from Monday to Friday for a few minutes treatment. Having the treatment is similar to having an X-ray.

For internal radiotherapy treatment the doctor puts the radioactive source inside your vagina. You may have internal radiotherapy as an inpatient or outpatient. You may be able to go home the same day, but have to come back up to 5 times. Or you may have all the treatment in one go, but have to stay in for a few days. This depends on the type of treatment you are having and on the type of equipment the hospital has. Some machines give the treatment more quickly. This won't affect how well the treatment works – the dose is the same either way. There is more information about internal radiotherapy and about external radiotherapy for womb cancer.

Look at the main radiotherapy section for more about this type of treatment including

If you would like more information about anything to do with radiotherapy, contact one of the cancer information organisations listed in our womb cancer organisations page. They will be happy to help. They often have free factsheets and booklets, which they can send to you. You can also contact our cancer information nurses.