Evaluation and impact of residual disease in locally advanced cervical cancer after concurrent chemoradiation therapy: results of a multicenter study

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnosis and impact of residual disease (RD) after concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in locally advanced cervical cancer (FIGO IB2-IVA).

Methods: This retrospective multicenter study included 159 patients who were treated with completion surgery after CRT between 2006 and 2012. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed 4-6 weeks after CRT and compared to pathological evidence of residual disease. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted and univariate/multivariate analyses were performed to assess the association between RD and the outcome.

Results: Residual disease was present in 45.3% of the patients and detected by MRI in 57.1%. The MRI had a 29.2% false positive rate and an 11.1% false negative rate. The overall survival (OS) rates at 3 and 5 years were 78.6% (CI 95% [71%-86.9%]) and 76.5% (CI 95% [68.2%-85.7%]), respectively. The disease free survival (DFS) rates at 3 and 5 years were 73.4% (CI 95% [65.6%-82%]) and 71.1% (CI 95% [62.7%-80.1%]), respectively. RD greater than 10 mm decreased DFS (HR = 4.84, p = 0.03), whereas RD between 1 and 10 mm (HR = 0.31, p = 0.58) and less than 1 mm (HR = 0.37, p = 0.54) had no impact on DFS. The OS was not changed by RD.

Discussion: The MRI accuracy value is not sufficient to select patients who might benefit from completion surgery. Residual disease over 10 mm decreased DFS but did not impact OS.

Keywords: Advanced cervical cancer; Completion surgery; Residual disease.