The impact of extraperitoneal surgical staging on morbidity and tumor recurrence following radiotherapy for cervical carcinoma.

From 1971 through 1981, 83 nonsurgically staged women with cervical cancer received extended-field radiotherapy on the basis of abnormal lymphangiogram, obstruction on intravenous pyelogram, or extensive pelvic tumor volume. From 1978 through 1981, 61 surgically staged patients underwent radiation therapy; of these, the 21 with positive lymph nodes received periaortic radiation. No increase in morbidity was found in these patients. Survival, relapse rate, and sites of treatment failures were similar in the positive lymphangiogram group and in the surgically staged patients with positive nodes.