Drastic changes in treatment of cervical cancer

The number of women with stage II to IVA cervical cancer treated in the United States with chemotherapy more than doubled (34%–85%), and the number treated with concurrent chemoradiation more than tripled (20%–72%), during the period 1997 to 2001, according to the findings of a recent analysis of patterns of care.

The analysis included data on more than 3,000 women with no previous diagnosis of cancer. The researchers concluded that the rapid shifts in treatment were most likely fueled by the publication of five important clinical trials in 1999 and 2000 demonstrating increased overall survival associated with chemoradiation, as well as by a Clinical Announcement distributed by the National Cancer Institute in 1999 to physicians most apt to treat the condition.

Trimble EL, Harlan LC, Gius D, et al. Patterns of care for women with cervical cancer in the United States. Cancer. 2008;113:743-749.