| Popis: |
Before discussing long-term costs it is worthwhile to define adjuvant radiotherapy. We cannot surely define as adjuvant the irradiation that follows a nonradical operation, because such treatment is compulsory and long-term costs are the price of recovery. We cannot talk about adjuvant treatment also after radical but limited surgery, such as a partial resection of the larynx or of the breast. In these cases the eventual long-term costs must also be seen from the esthetic and functional points of view and the value of this combined conservative approach must be proved with respect to the conventional treatment. We are in a different situation when we have to irradiate a patient after a radical and conventional operation, such as a radical mastectomy. In this case, the irradiation follows a treatment which is definitive in itself and this is exactly what we mean by adjuvant radiotherapy. |
