Two case reports: carcinoma of the cervix and carcinoma of the endometrium treated with radiotherapy after previous irradiation for benign uterine bleeding.

In the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, low doses of radiotherapy were used to treat benign uterine bleeding. The cases of two women who received this form of therapy and later developed gynaecological malignancies and had high-dose pelvic radiotherapy are presented. A 76-year-old woman with an International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage-IIB squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix received external beam radiotherapy and intra-uterine brachytherapy and a 77-year-old women with a FIGO stage-IB endometrial adenocarcinoma received adjuvant postoperative pelvic radiotherapy. Both women had a significant past history of low-dose-rate intra-uterine irradiation for dysfunctional uterine bleeding. Therefore the theoretical question of carcinogenesis was raised, and also the practical questions of what dose had previously been given and what further dose could be safely given with regard to normal tissue tolerance.