Using Manchester System for the Treatment of Cervix Carcinoma for a Selected Oncology Facility in Ghana

The conventional treatment for carcinoma of the cervix is a combination of both the external Teletherapy and Low Dose-Rate (LDR) intracavitary brachytherapy. However, there has been an increasing trend toward the use of High Dose-Rate (HDR) brachytherapy, in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in the treatment of cervix carcinoma. The Manchester system has been used for the treatment modality at the facility. The various cancer stages were diagnosed and found to be from stage I to stage IIIB according to FIGO staging guidlines. There were no stage IV cases who reported at the facility during the period of investigation. It has been argued that, for the unique case of radio-therapeutic treatment of carcinoma of the cervix, the criterion for producing an equivalent treatment should be based on the matching of early, rather than not late effects. In essence, the dose to the normal tissues at risk for late effects is usually significantly smaller than the prescribed dose. For such a treatment modality of treatment, the mode of calculation of the Biologically Effective Dose (BED) has being used during the cervical carcinoma at the facility.