"Quick Cycle" neoadjuvant chemotherapy in squamous cell carcinoma of cervix

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a 'Quick cycle' neoadjuvant chemotherapeutic regime in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of cervix and monitor the response to chemotherapy using Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen (SCC-Ag) as tumor marker. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with SCC of cervix (Stage I-IV) entered the study to receive three courses of multiagent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (vincristine, cisplatin and bleomycin) in a weekly regime. SCC-Ag was evaluated in these patients' pre and post-chemotherapy. Results: Patients with stage IB2 had a complete response and two of seven patients with stage IIB became operable. The overall response rate was 47.8% and complete response rate was 8.7%. Decrease in tumor volume post-chemotherapy was significant (P Conclusion: The weekly chemotherapeutic regime was found to be safe and effective and SCC-Ag is a useful tumor marker for monitoring response to chemotherapy.