Radiation therapy duration influences overall survival in patients with cervical carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
This article analyses the influence of treatment duration on survival in patients with invasive carcinoma of the cervix treated by radical radiation therapy.


METHODS
Three hundred and sixty patients with FIGO stage IB-IIIB carcinoma of the cervix were treated in Lausanne (Switzerland) with external radiation and brachytherapy as first line therapy. Median therapy duration was 45 days. Patients were classified according to the duration of the therapies, taking 60 days (the 75th percentile) as an arbitrary cut-off.


RESULTS
The 5-year survival was 61% (S.E. = 3%) for the therapy duration group of less than 60 days and 53% (S.E. = 7%) for the group of more than 60 days. In terms of univariate hazard ratio (HR), the relative difference between the two groups corresponds to a 50% increase of deaths (HR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.03-2.28) for the longer therapy duration group (P = 0.044). In a multivariate analysis, the magnitude of estimated relative hazards for the longer therapies are confirmed though significance was reduced (HR = 1.52, 95% CI = 0.94-2.45, P = 0.084).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that short treatment duration is a factor associated with longer survival in carcinoma of the cervix.
Delaloye
J F
JF
Département de Gynécologie et d'Obstétrique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Coucke
P A
PA
Pampallona
S
S
Peltecu
G
G
De Grandi
P
P
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001918:Brachytherapy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy*