CONCURRENT CARBOPLATIN 5-FU AND RADIOTHERAPY FOR LOCALLY ADVANCED CERVICAL-CARCINOMA/

Despite innovative techniques in radiotherapy delivery no significant improvement in survival rates for cervical carcinoma has been achieved during the last few decades, Concurrent chemoradiation (CR) is one of the several avenues being explored to improve these results. Forty-se ven women with locally advanced (IB2-IVA) squamous cell carcinoma of t he uterine cervix were treated with CR, comprising a combination of ex ternal and intracavitary radiation along with three cycles of 5-FU and carboplatin. Treatment was well tolerated with 81% of the patients co mpleting the CR protocol as planned. Acute toxicity was severe but man ageable: 16 patients (34%) experienced grade 3-4 acute toxicity. Late morbidity occurred in 15% of the patients. Overall response rate was 8 8%. At a median follow-up time of 19 months (range 12-59) 62% of the p atients are alive without disease and 18% are dead of disease. Actuari al two-year survival rate for the whole group of patients is 64%. Conc omitant carboplatin/5-FU and radiotherapy is a safe and tolerable mean of treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer. The true advantage for survival, however, can be demonstrated only after completion of r andomized trials comparing CR with conventional radiation therapy.