Adjuvant high-dose chemotherapy supported by peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for high-risk cervical carcinoma

Cervical carcinoma is a common disease for which the prognosis has not been substantially improved with standard locoregional treatments. Three stage IB patients with untreated cervical carcinoma were treated with high-dose c hemotherapy and refrigerated peripheral blood stem cell support using the I CE program (Ifosfamide 10 g/m2 plus mesna at 100% of the ifosfamide dose; C arboplatin at 1.5 g/m2 and Etoposide 2.1 g/m2). Patients received the treat ment in an adjuvant setting after radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymph-no de dissection and postoperative cisplatin-based standard-dose chemotherapy. All patients underwent postoperative radiotherapy. The treatment was well- tolerated, all patients had rapid hematologic recovery, and the most freque nt complications were grade 3 mucositis and neutropenic fever. The three pa tients are disease-free at 58, 60, and 63 months of follow-up. Our results show that adjuvant high-dose chemotherapy could be effective to reduce the likelihood of relapse in high-risk patients. High-dose chemotherapy deserve s a formal evaluation in high-risk cervical cancer.