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The urinary excretion of polyamines was evaluated before, during and after radiotherapy in 16 patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix (stage IIb or IIIb) and in 7 cases with pelvic recurrence after surgery for various types of carcinoma. The concentration of spermidine was significantly higher in the patients with primary tumors than in those with recurrent tumors. After the first radiation fractions putrescine increased in the patients with primary tumors whereas it decreased in patients with recurrent tumors. The values tended to return to baseline levels with time following treatment initiation. Polyamine increased markedly during treatment in patients who remained disease-free for at least 5 years but not in the patients with progressive disease or relapse. The results suggest a different polyamine metabolism and a different response to radiotherapy of recurrent tumors compared to primary tumors. The increase of urinary polyamines, but not the baseline values, seemed to be correlated to the response after radiotherapy.

In 1960-1985, 35 patients with ovarian dysgerminoma were referred after surgery to the Radiation Therapy Unit of the University of Florence. Twenty-seven of these cases were analysed with regard to lymphangiography findings before radiation therapy. Nodes were judged as positive in 18 of the 27 cases (44%) and in all the positive cases the paraaortic nodes were involved. The relevance of lymphography in the staging and follow-up of patients with ovarian dysgerminoma is discussed.