Comparative study of the patients with locally advanced stages I and II cervical cancer treated by radical surgery with and without preoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.

Ninety-two patients with locally advanced stages IB, IIA, and IIB cervical cancers, who had completed 4 years of follow-up after treatment with preoperative adjuvant chemotherapy prior to radical surgery, were compared with 138 patients in same disease status who were treated with radical surgery without preoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. In the patients treated with preoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (VBP scheme), the chemotherapeutic response was more favorable in squamous cell carcinomas (87%) than that in adenocarcinomas (38%). The detection rate of pelvic lymph node metastasis from the surgical specimens of radical operation was higher in the patients of radical surgery without preoperative chemotherapy (34%; 47/138) than that in the preoperative adjuvant chemotherapeutic patients (17%; 16/92, P = 0.005). Recurrence occurred in 50 of 138 patients (35.5%) who were treated by radical surgery without preoperative chemotherapy and in 17 of 92 patients (18.5%) who were treated with preoperative adjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical surgery. The difference of recurrence rate between two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.004). The tumor-free survival of preoperative adjuvant chemotherapeutic patients was significantly longer than those in the patients without preoperative chemotherapy (P = 0.0067). Tumor response to chemotherapy was a valuable prognostic factor in management of patients and preoperative adjuvant chemotherapy was beneficial in reducing pelvic lymph node metastases, reducing recurrences, and prolonging the survival of the patients with locally advanced cervical cancers, especially in stage IIA.