Combined modality treatment for carcinomas of the uterine cervix and vulva

Several attempts have been made during the preceding year to apply multimodality approaches to the treatment of carcinomas of the uterine cervix and the vulva. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy may render more cervical tumors resectable, but it does not necessarily improve curability when compared with similarly staged patients treated with definitive pelvic irradiation alone. Neither concurrent chemoradiotherapy nor adjuvant chemotherapy following hysterectomy have been shown to be superior to definitive radiotherapy in prospective randomized trials of cervical cancer patients. Exciting data continue to be reported for the integration of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and conservative surgery in the management of vulvar cancer. Such initiatives are contingent on the close cooperation of oncologists during the design and implementation of prospective trials.