Survival Impacts of Perineural Invasion on Patients Under Different Radical Hysterectomies Due to Early Cervical Cancer

A comparison of concurrent chemoradiotherapy and radical surgery in patients with specific locally advanced cervical cancer (stage IB3, IIA2, IIICr): trial protocol for a randomized controlled study (C-CRAL trial)

BACKGROUND

At present, clinical dilemma remains to be solved in terms of therapy-choices for specific locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) patients: 1) Although concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is recommended as the first choice for them, many patients, influenced by the Chinese culture, prefer to choose radical surgery (RS) as their primary treatment. The difference between the 2 therapies in improving patient prognosis is still unknown. 2) Laparoscopy has been questioned since the noted Laparoscopic Approach to Cervical Cancer trial. Nevertheless, clinical research on laparoscopic surgery under the strict tumor-free principle is still underway globally, therefore whether laparoscopic surgery can be used for specific LACC is also an urgent issue to be explored.

METHODS

A multi-center, randomized controlled study is designed to investigate the effect of different treatment strategies on the prognosis and quality of life (QoL) in patients with specific locally LACC. A total of 402 patients will be enrolled over a period of 3 years. Eligible patients will be randomized (3:1) to either RS group or CCRT group. Patients assigned to RS group will be randomized (1:2) to the abdominal RS group or laparoscopic RS group. All patients will then be followed-up for 5 years. The primary end point is the 2-year progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary end points include 5-year PFS, 2-year overall survival (OS), 5-year OS, adverse events caused by RS or CCRT and QoL.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Chinese Clinical Trial Registry Identifier: ChiCTR2000041315.

Can laparoscopic nerve-sparing ultra-radical hysterectomy play a role in locally advanced cervical cancer? A single-center retrospective study

Background and objectives

The objective of this study is to investigate the outcomes of concurrent platinum-based chemoradiation therapy (CCRT), laparoscopic nerve-sparing ultra-radical hysterectomy (LNSURH), and open radical hysterectomy (ORH) on patients with locally advanced cervical carcinoma (LACC).

Methods

A single-center retrospective study was conducted on LACC patients who received CCRT, ORH, or LNSURH from January 2011 to December 2019. Data on age, tumor size, overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and early and late morbidities were collected. After 24 months of treatment, patients were asked a series of questions about their urinary, bowel, and sexual activities. Early morbidities were defined as those occurring during or within a month of treatment, whereas late morbidities and complications were defined as those occurring a month after treatment. The postoperative complications were classified with reference to the Clavien–Dindo classification (CD) system.

Results

The Kaplan–Meier curves revealed no significant differences in OS and DFS among the three groups (P = 0.106 for DFS and P = 0.190 for OS). The rates of early complications in the CCRT group were comparable with those in the operated groups (P = 0.46). However, late complications were significantly lower in the ORH and LNSURH groups relative to those in the CCRT group. The scores of urinary and bowel functions were restored to the pretreatment state, although the sexual function scores were not satisfactory.

Conclusions

The treatments of CCRT, ORH, and LNSURH can be considered options for patients with LACC, as their OS and DFS showed no significant difference. In addition, LNSURH exhibited a lower incidence of late complications and high sexual function scores.