title: Outcomes of radiotherapy and combined modality treatment of cervical cancer in patients under 35.
abstract: The effectiveness of treatment was evaluated in 134 cervical cancer patients with stage I-IV, aged under 35. Sixty-nine (group 1) received combined modality treatment including Wertheim's operation and postoperative irradiation, 63 patients (group 2) underwent combined radiotherapy consisting of external irradiation employing high energy beams and intracavitary gamma therapy applying afterloading. Two stage IV patients received symptomatic treatment. The data obtained did not confirm the opinion that some aggressive cervical cancers in young women demonstrate poor response to radiotherapy. After combined radiotherapy 100% of stage I patients, 83.3 +/- 16.7% of stage II, and 50.0 +/- 28.9% of stage III patients survived for 5 years and more. Five-year survival rates in patients who underwent combined modality treatment were 92.9 +/- 4.0% for stage I and 50.0 +/- 13.9% for stage II. None of the patients receiving combined radiotherapy had complications causing disability or requiring surgical intervention. The results obtained indicate that if medical institutions are equipped with modern radiologic facilities, a wider use of radiotherapy is advisable in the management of cervical cancer in younger women; it should be administered not only in the treatment of advanced tumors and in the presence of concomitant diseases restricting the use of surgery, but also at early stages of cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Oncology and Medical Radiology, Health Ministry of the Republic of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus.
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Vishnevskaya
authors.forename: O P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Matylevich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001918:Brachytherapy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy; D015996:Survival Rate; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*