Radiation therapy alone or combined with surgery in the treatment of barrel-shaped carcinoma of the uterine cervix (stages IB, IIA, IIB)

Abstract

This retrospective analysis reports the results of therapy in 128 patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix classified as barrel-shaped or expanded cervix (over 5 cm in diameter). Seventy-five percent of the patients were treated with irradiation alone and 25% with combinations of irradiation and surgery. The results of therapy are compared with those observed in 714 patients with non-barrel-shaped carcinoma of the uterine cervix treated with similar techniques during the same period of time. The distribution of histological type of tumor was similar in both groups (90% epidermoid carcinoma, 8% adenocarcinoma, and 2% adenosquamous carcinoma). Approximately 15% of the patients in both groups with Stage IB and 25% with Stage IIA and IIB had positive endometrial curettings (stromal invasion or replacement by tumor only). Thus, the aggressive behavior observed in the barrel-shaped tumors is not a result of endometrial involvement, but to the large volume of tumor present. The actuarial 5-year tumor free survival in Stage IB barrel-shaped cervix was 76% compared to 92% in the non-barrel-shaped lesions. In Stage IIA the 5-year NED survival for patients with barrel-shaped cervix was 60 compared to 80% for the patients with non-barrel-shaped cervix. In Stage IIB the survival rates were 58 and 70%, respectively. A noteworthy finding in this analysis is the high incidence of distant metastases in the patients with barrel-shaped cervix (32% in Stage IB, 40% in Stage IIA, and 32% in Stage IIB) in comparison with patients with non-barrel-shaped tumors (10% in Stage IB, 16% in Stage IIA, and 25% in Stage IIB). The incidence of pelvic failures was comparable in both groups. Higher doses of irradiation resulted in better tumor control, which was comparable to that observed with a combination of irradiation and surgery (conservative hysterectomy). The 5-year survival rate in Stage IB was similar in both the barrel-shaped and non-barrel-shaped tumors treated with irradiation alone or combination irradiation and surgery. In Stage IIA the non-barrel-shaped lesions had the same survival with either treatment technique. In the barrel-shape group, eight patients treated with irradiation and surgery had a 5-year survival of 70%, compared to 45% in 24 patients treated with irradiation alone. However, these differences are not statistically significant ( p = .50). In eight patients treated with definitive irradiation and a lymphadenectomy and four patients irradiated after an exploratory laparotomy, two major and three minor (grade 2) complications were noted. Six of 92 patients (7%) treated with irradiation alone and 4 of 19 (21%) patients treated with low dose pre-operative irradiation and radical hysterectomy developed grade 3 complications. It is concluded that barrel-shaped carcinoma of the uterine cervix represents a large tumor volume, which is comparable to clinical Stage IIB, as demonstrated by the survival and patterns of failure. Even though the combination of high dose preoperative irradiation and a conservative hysterectomy has been advocated by some authors, in the present study, higher doses of irradiation yielded comparable results. The high incidence of distant metastases points out the need for effective systemic adjuvant chemotherapy to substantially enhance the survival of these patients.