Long-term clinical outcomes of preoperative brachytherapy in early-stage cervical cancer

The treatment of early-stage cervical cancer (CC) is primarily based on surgery. Adjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy can be necessary in presence of risk factors for relapse (tumor size, deep stromal invasion, lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), positive margins, parametrial or lymph node involvement), increasing the risk of treatment toxicity. Preoperative brachytherapy can reduce tumor extension before surgery, potentially limiting the need for adjuvant radiotherapy. This study reports long-term clinical outcomes on efficacy and toxicity of preoperative pulse-dose-rate (PDR) brachytherapy in early-stage CC.

All patients treated at Institut Curie between 2007 and 2022 for early-stage CC by preoperative brachytherapy were included. A PDR technique was used. Patients underwent hysterectomy associated with nodal staging following brachytherapy.

73 patients were included. The median time from brachytherapy to surgery was 45 days [range: 25-78 days]. With a median follow-up of 51 months [range: 4-185], we reported 3 local (4 %), 1 locoregional (1 %) and 8 metastatic (11 %) relapses. At 10 years, OS was 84.1 % [95 % CI: 70.0-100], DFS 84.3 % [95 % CI:74.6-95.3] and LRFS 92.8 % [95 % CI:84.8-100]. Persistence of a tumor residue, observed in 32 patients (44 %), was a significant risk factor for metastatic relapse (p = 0.02) and was associated with the largest tumor size before brachytherapy (p = 0.04). Five patients (7 %) experienced grade 3 toxicity. One patient (1 %) developed grade 4 toxicity. Ten patients (14 %) received adjuvant radiotherapy, increasing the risk of lymphedema (HR 1.31, 95 % CI [1.11-1.54]; p = 0.002).

PDR preoperative brachytherapy for early-stage cervical cancer provides high long-term tumor control rates with low toxicity.