Survival outcome and prognostic factors post inadvertent hysterectomy in carcinoma cervix treated with salvage chemo-radiation.

Abstract

The standard of care for treating early invasive cervical cancer is radical hysterectomy or radiation alone while chemo-radiation is a definitive treatment for advanced disease. Occasionally, a simple hysterectomy is performed in the cancer cervix and these patients merit adjuvant treatment in view of the high chances of loco-regional recurrences. The aim of the study was to analyze the survival outcome of these patients treated with salvage chemo-radiotherapy and also to determine the prognostic factors affecting survival. The medical records of all patients with cervical cancer post simple hysterectomy outside and who received salvage treatment in our department between 2014 and 2020 were retrieved. The data regarding clinical, treatment details and survival were analyzed. A total of 198 patients were included. Median follow-up duration was 45.5months. Gross disease and lymphadenopathy were seen in 60% and 28% patients, respectively. The 5-year progression-free survival(PFS) and overall survival(OS) was 75% and 76%, respectively. Concurrent chemotherapy alone or in combination with induction chemotherapy using three-drug regimens showed better survival compared to those treated by radiation alone. On multivariate analysis, factors found to be adversely affecting OS and PFS were lymph node (LN) size of more than 2cm, non-squamous histology, overall treatment time(OTT) of more than 12weeks and use of non three-drug chemotherapy regimen. Subtotal hysterectomy results in a higher incidence of local recurrence of disease. Factors that impair the outcome in this sub-group of patients are gross lymphadenopathy, non-squamous histology and prolong OTT.