The effect of hysterectomy on carcinoma of the cervix

Abstract

Carcinoma of the cervix has been studied in three Houston hospitals to furnish material from urban and rural areas. Hysterectomy was associated with a mistake in diagnosis in one group of women; it represented elective surgery as a primary means of therapy in a second group; and in the third group the hysterectomy was performed for a benign uterine lesion and the true carcinoma of the cervix followed three or more years later. It has been shown by our review that far too many of these patients had definite evidence of tumor six months or less following surgery. Emphasis should be placed on the fact that when surgery is the procedure of choice, it must usually include a radical gland dissection to be of value. Accurate diagnosis of pelvic disease involves the physician's ability to recognize a cancer where one exists. In addition, the clinician is charged with the responsibility of tracing the neoplasm to its point of origin.Appreciation of the biological variations in tumors prior to, during, and after treatment demands wise clinical judgment in evaluation. The person who administers ionizing radiation must be as sound a clinician as are those who practice surgery. Radiotherapy as well as surgical therapy requires the doctor's ability to alter technique as circumstances differ. Consequently, the doctor must have a thorough understanding of the fundamental principles of both types of therapy in order to eradicate the individual tumor.