Results presented at the 2023 ESMO Gynecological Cancers Congress found that patients with stage 3c cervical cancer who received adjuvant chemoadiotherapy experienced improved survival outcomes compared to other treatment modalities.

The study results were presented at the 2023 ESMO Gynecological Cancers Congress by lead author Asmaa Ellaithy, MD, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.

While current guidelines recommend primary chemoradiotherapy as treatment for advanced stage cervical cancer, Dr Ellaithy explained “combined treatment regimens for node positive cervical cancer remains controversial.”

The study aimed to compare the overall survival of different treatment modalities with further stratification by the positive lymph node number. Drawing from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, this study included 3146 patients with node-positive cervical cancer diagnosed from 2000 to 2018, receiving treatments of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, adjuvant radiotherapy, surgery without systemic treatment, adjuvant chemotherapy, or primary chemoradiotherapy. Patients were then further divided into 1 of 4 subgroups by number of involved lymph nodes: 1 node, 2 to 3 nodes, 4 to 10 nodes, and ≥10 nodes.

Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy was associated with higher 5-year overall survival (OS) vs adjuvant radiotherapy, surgery, primary chemoradiotherapy, and adjuvant chemotherapy (68.7% vs 63.4%, 59.1%, 47.5%, and 40.7%, respectively; P > 0). Patients treated with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy with 1 involved lymph node had a 5-year OS of 73.1%; patients with 2 to 3 positive lymph nodes had a 5-year OS of 63.9%.

Dr Ellaithy and coauthors concluded, though these results showcase adjuvant chemoradiotherapy as the potential best treatment option for node-positive stage 3c cervical cancer, “further evaluation is necessary to weigh the benefit versus side effects of the best regimen for each patient.”

Source:

Ellaithy, A. “Impact of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy on survival outcome compared to other treatment modalities for cervical cancer stage IIIc.” Presented at ESMO Gynecological Cancers Congress; February 23-25, 2023; Barcelona, Spain. Abstract 17P