Adjuvant Small Pelvic Radiotherapy in Patients with Cervical Cancer Having Intermediate Risk Factors Only - Is It...

We sought to determine the outcomes of adjuvant small pelvic external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and prognostic factors for survival and disease control.

We retrospectively evaluated 113 cervical cancer patients treated with postoperative median 50.4-Gy small pelvic EBRT. We treated the surgical bed, bilateral parametria, paravaginal soft tissues, upper third of the vagina, and presacral lymphatics.

Median follow-up of all patients and survivors was 58 and 67 months, respectively. The 2- and 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival rates were 91 and 82%, and 85 and 74%, respectively. The locoregional failure rate was 10%. Age was a significant predictor for OS and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) on univariate analysis. The number of dissected lymph nodes being < 30 negatively affected the pelvic recurrence-free survival. The only independent predictor on multivariate analysis was older age for DMFS. Although no severe acute toxicity was observed, late grade ≥ 3 toxicity developed in 8 patients.

Small pelvic EBRT produces satisfactory survival and locoregional control with acceptable toxicity, and can be an alternative to whole pelvic EBRT in selected cervical cancer patients.