Comparative Efficacy of Cisplatin vs. Gemcitabine as Concurrent Chemotherapy for Untreated Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer: A

Abstract

Cisplatin based chemo-radiation is considered the standard of care for most patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. Gemcitabine is a new pyrimidire analogue with high radio sensitizing potency in vitro. This study was undertaken to compare the anti-tumor activity and toxicity of the two drugs. It is a prospective randomized study of 60 patients histologically confirmed locally advanced cervical cancer, FIGO stage IIB - IIIB with no previous treatment. Patients were randomized to receive either weekly Cisplatin 40mg/m 2 intravenously or Gemcitabine 100mg/m 2 intravenously for 5 cycles concurrent with external beam radiation therapy 50Gy/25# as 5# / weeks, followed by single application of medium does rate intracavitory brachytherapy to deliver 20 Gy at point A, 2 weeks after completion of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Toxicity was graded according to WHO criteria. Both subjective and objective responses were measured six weeks after completion of treatment. In Cisplatin arm 28/30 (93.33%) patients showed complete clinical regression of tumor whereas in Gemcitabine arm only 21/30 (70%) patients showed complete clinical response. Thus immediate response was significantly higher in the cisplatin group as compared to the gemcitabine group (p=0.01). All toxicities except nausea and vomiting were more common and severe in patients receiving Gemcitabine with radiation. To conclude, Cisplatin appears to be better than Gemcitabine when used as a radio sensitizer for untreated locally advanced cervical cancer in terms of response and toxicity. Keywords : Cervical cancer, Gemcitabine, Cisplatin, radiotherapy, concurrent chemotherapy. Internet Journal of Medical Update Vol. 2 (1) 2007: pp. 1-6