Statement of the Uterus Commission of the Gynecological Oncology Working Group (AGO) on Surgical Therapy for Patients with Stage IA2–IIB1 Cervical Cancer

The presentation of the results of the prospective randomized international multicenter study AGO-OP.8 – CCTG CX.5 – SHAPE at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in 2023 will affect the surgical treatment of early-stage cervical cancer. In the SHAPE study, simple total hysterectomy (experimental arm) was found to be non-inferior to radical hysterectomy (standard arm) to treat patients with early-stage cervical cancer (FIGO stages [2018] IA2 – IB1 ≤ 2 cm with an infiltration depth of < 1 cm); after 3 yearsʼ follow-up the pelvic recurrence rate was 2.52% (experimental arm) compared to 2.17% (standard arm) with no statistically significant difference with regards to recurrence-free survival and overall survival rates. After weighing up the results of the SHAPE study published at the conference, the Uterus Organ Commission of AGO is of the opinion that, in addition to the use of radical hysterectomy to treat patients with invasive cervical cancer which is FIGO stage IA2 – IB1 ≤ 2 cm with an infiltration depth of < 1 cm, simple total hysterectomy may also be considered for primary surgical therapy on a case-by-case basis after suitable explanation of the associated risks. It will be necessary to wait for the data of the full publication before discussing whether this approach should be included in official guidelines and defining it as a new therapy standard.