Chemoradiotherapy for uterine cancer: current status and perspectives

The conventional local treatment methods (surgery and radiation) for cervical cancer have reached a plateau in terms of survival benefit and, therefore, in this review, new treatment strategies (combined chemotherapy [CT] and local therapy) to overcome the poor prognosis were examined in high-risk groups. The effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) administered prior to radiotherapy (RT) has not been confirmed for any disease stages. But NAC followed by surgery may improve survival in patients with stage Ib2 compared with surgery alone; and in patients with stage Ib2 to IIB compared with RT alone. Five large randomized clinical trials (RCTs) demonstrated a significant survival benefit for patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), using a cisplatin (CDDP)-based regimen, with a 28%-50% relative reduction in the risk of death. In addition, the results of a metaanalysis of 19 RCTs of CCRT (1981-2000) involving 4580 patients showed that CCRT significantly improved overall survival (OS) hazard ratio ([HR] 0.71; P < 0.0001), as well as progression-free survival (PFS; HR 0.61; P < 0.0001). In line with these results, CCRT is currently recommended as standard therapy for advanced cancer (stage III/IVA) in the United States. However, there remains much controversy and uncertainty regarding the optimal therapeutic approaches, especially for patients with advanced cancer. Additional RCTs should be conducted to find the optimal CT regimen and RT for Japanese patients, considering acute and late complications, as well as differences in pelvic anatomy, total radiation dose, and RT procedures between Japan and other countries. Evidence obtained from such studies should establish the optimal CCRT treatment protocol and define the patient population (disease stage) that the protocol really benefits.