# PORTEC-2

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/portec-2/  
OnCo record `portec-2` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

PORTEC-2 showed that a short course of internal radiotherapy to the top of the vagina prevented local recurrence of endometrial cancer as well as several weeks of external pelvic radiotherapy, with far fewer bowel side effects, and it became the standard for intermediate-risk disease.

## Summary

PORTEC-1 had shown that external beam radiotherapy reduces locoregional recurrence without improving survival in stage I endometrial cancer, and that most recurrences were in the vagina. PORTEC-2 randomised 427 women with high-intermediate-risk stage I disease (defined by age, grade and depth of invasion) to vaginal brachytherapy or external beam pelvic radiotherapy. The primary endpoint was vaginal recurrence.

Vaginal recurrence rates were low and similar in both arms, with no difference in overall survival, and vaginal brachytherapy caused far less gastrointestinal toxicity and better quality of life. It became the standard adjuvant treatment for this risk group worldwide. The later molecular analysis of the PORTEC trials showed that POLE-mutated tumours almost never recur whatever the treatment, and that p53-abnormal tumours do poorly, the basis of the molecular classification now used to tailor adjuvant therapy.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: positive
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Tags: subtype-trials
- Registry id: NCT00376844
- Phase: 3
- Setting: High-intermediate-risk stage I endometrial cancer after surgery: vaginal brachytherapy against external beam pelvic radiotherapy
- Sponsor: Leiden University Medical Center (Dutch PORTEC group)
- Enrolled: 427
- Result: Vaginal brachytherapy gave similar vaginal control and survival to external beam radiotherapy with less gastrointestinal toxicity.

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00376844: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00376844

## Connected records

- cancers: [Endometrial cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/endometrial/), [Endometrial cancer with no specific molecular profile](https://onco.cc/cancers/endometrial-nsmp/), [POLE-ultramutated endometrial cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/endometrial-pole-ultramutated/)
- people: [Remi A. Nout](https://onco.cc/people/remi-nout/)
- key papers: [PORTEC-2: vaginal brachytherapy versus pelvic external beam radiotherapy for high-intermediate-risk endometrial cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-portec-2-lancet-2010/)

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