title: Clinical efficacy and safety of paclitaxel plus carboplatin as neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy for Stage IB2-IIB cervical cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of paclitaxel plus carboplatin as neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) prior to radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed patients with cervical cancer of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IB2-IIB who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) with paclitaxel plus carboplatin followed by radical hysterectomy (NACT group) or only received primary radical surgery (PRS group) in our hospital between Jan 2007 and Jan 2012. Toxicity, NACT response, surgery pathological factors and survival data were collected and analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the NACT group, the overall response rate was 71.3% (82/115). Eighteen (15.7%) patients achieved complete remission. Well differentiated tumors showed a more favorable response to NACT (P=0.011). Myelosuppression was the most common adverse effect (51.7%) and serious adverse effects were rare (3.4%). The median follow-up period was 44 months (range, 6-75). The NACT responders had significantly longer OS and PFS when compared to the non-NACT responders and patients in the PRS group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with LACC can benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel plus carboplatin when they have response to the chemotherapeutic agents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhoufang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Min
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Zehua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; efficacy; locally advanced cervical cancer; paclitaxel plus carboplatin; prognosis