Radical hysterectomy or radiotherapy for stage I cervical cancer. A prospective comparison with 5 and 10 years follow-up.

A prospective study of the treatment of 119 patients with Stage I carcinoma of the cervix by radical hysterectomy alone (58 patients) or radiotherapy alone (61 patients) was undertaken between Jan. 1, 1956, and May 31, 1966. Eighty-one per cent of the patients treated by radical hysterectomy survived 5 years as compared with 74 per cent of those treated by radiotherapy. The 10 year survival rates were 75 and 65 per cent, respectively. These differences were not statistically significant. Complications of treatment were relatively few except for a greater incidence of urinary tract problems after surgical treatment; most of these were resolved with restoration of normal function. When recurrence occurred in the surgical series further treatment by radiotherapy offered a reasonable prospect of survival. Failure of radiotherapy left relatively little opportunity for later treatment by operation.