Adjuvant Chemotherapy Non-Inferior to Chemoradiotherapy in Cervical Cancer

The following article features coverage from the Society of Gynecologic Oncology 2018 meeting. Click here to read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor‘s conference coverage.

Editor’s Note: This article was corrected to clarify that chemoradiotherapy can lead to long-term radiation toxicity (not fertility impairment as originally stated).

Chemotherapy alone is non-inferior to concurent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) after radical hysterectomy among patients with early-stage cervical cancer with risk factors, according to a presentation at the 2018 Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer in New Orleans.¹

CCRT is commonly used as adjuvant therapy for women with early-stage cervical cancer after radical hysterectomy, though it can lead to long-term radiation toxicity.

For this study, researchers randomly assigned 324 patients with stage IB to IIA cervical cancer to receive adjuvant CCRT or chemotherapy; patients in the CCRT arm received external beam radiation therapy plus cisplatin; those in the chemotherapy arm received paclitaxel plus cisplatin.

Progression-free survival and overall survival were similar in both treatment arms, though the hazard ratio for relapse trended in favor of patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.878; 95% CI, 0.418-1.845; P = .731).

There were no significant differences in patterns of recurrence in the chemotherapy vs CCRT groups, though there was an trend towards a higher rate of distant failure among patients who received adjuvant CCRT.

The authors concluded that “adjuvant chemotherapy was not inferior to adjuvant CCRT and could be a standard treatment option for patients with FIGO stage IB–IIA cervical cancer with surgically confirmed risk factors,” and added that “subgroup analysis and treatment-related adverse events, ovarian function, and quality of life are under analysis.”

Read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor‘s coverage of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology 2018 meeting by visiting the conference page.

Reference

1. Weng D, Wang H, Zhu C, et al. Randomized trial of adjuvant chemotherapy versus concurrent chemoradiotherapy in early-stage cervical cancer after radical surgery: a Chinese Gynecologic Oncology Group study (CSEM-002). Oral presentation at: 2018 Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer; March 24-27, 2018; New Orleans, LA.