Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and conservative surgery for stage IB1 cervical cancer

Abstract Objectives To assess the effectiveness of chemo-surgical conservative therapy for stage IB1 cervical tumors in patients desiring to preserve fertility. Methods From 1995 to April 2007 51 nulliparous patients with tumor ≤3 cm, aged ≤40 years with no uterine and lymphnode neoplastic involvement were evaluated. Three courses with cisplatin 75 mg/m 2 , paclitaxel 175 mg/m 2 and ifosfamide 5 g/m 2 (epirubicin 80 mg/m 2 in adenocarcinoma) were followed by cold-knife conization and pelvic lymphadenectomy. When intraoperative frozen section revealed massive neoplastic cervical persistence a radical total hysterectomy was performed. Results Thirty women (59%) did not accept the conservative approach. In the remaining 21 patients median age was 30 years and median tumor size was 15 mm (range 10–30 mm). Adenocarcinoma was present in 12 cases (57%) and indifferentiated neoplasia in 10 (48%). Following neoadjuvant treatment, pathological complete response was observed in 5 cases, in situ or microinvasive residue in 12 and stromal invasion >3 mm in 4. Four women deemed ineligible for conservative surgery after chemotherapy and one refusing to preserve her genital apparatus underwent radical hysterectomy. After a median follow-up of 69 months no relapses were observed. Nine women attempted to conceive: ten pregnancies occurred in 6 patients and 9 live babies have been born, while one woman experienced a first-trimester miscarriage. Conclusions The high rate of pathological response confirms the effectiveness of the preoperative treatment for reducing the tumor volume allowing the removal only of a cervical cone instead of the entire cervix with cardinal ligaments as needed by radical trachelectomy. Successful pregnancies are possible after such integration.