Preliminary report of the M. D. Anderson hospital randomized trial of neutron and photon irradiation for locally advanced carcinoma of the uterine cervix

Abstract Between February 1977 and August 1979, 75 patients with locally advanced carcinoma of the uterine cervix were randomized to receive treatment with: (a) a combination of 50-MeV neutrons and 25-MeV photons ± intracavitary radium (mixed beam group) or (b) 25-MeV photons ± intracavitary radium (photon group). The analysis of the total population revealed no difference between the mixed beam and photon groups with regard to local tumor control, frequency of major complications, or patient survival. There was a significant difference between the two groups with regard to the number of patients completing treatment with intracavitary radium. When the patients who completed treatment with intracavitary radium or an external beam boost are analyzed separately, the results with mixed beam irradiation are slightly better than those achieved with photon irradiation, although the difference is not statistically significant.