Treatment regimen extends survival for women with cervical cancer
Dueñas-González A et al. - In a trial to determine whether use of gemcitabine as part of initial treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer and part of therapy following primary treatment significantly improves survival for women with locally advanced cervical cancer, it was confirmed that this regimen does significantly improve survival for women with locally advanced cervical cancer. Methods- More than 500 women with stage IIB to stage IVA cervical cancer participated.
- Pts were randomly assigned to the experimental treatment arm, which included cisplatin and gemcitabine with concurrent external-beam radiation therapy, followed by brachytherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin.
- Women in the standard treatment group received cisplatin and concurrent external-beam radiation therapy followed by brachytherapy alone.
Results- Approximately 75% of women who received the experimental treatment did not experience progression of their disease 3 yrs after treatment, vs 65% of women who received standard treatment.
- Overall survival was improved, with 78% of women in the experimental treatment arm alive after 3 yrs vs 69% in the standard treatment arm.
- The research team had expected more toxicity with the addition of gemcitabine, and that is what they saw.
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