Clinical outcome of FIGO 2018 stage IB3/IIA2 cervical cancer treated by neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical surgery due to lack of radiotherapy equipment: A retrospective comparison with concurrent chemoradiotherapy

This study aimed to assess neoadjuvant chemotherapy’s clinical outcomes such as efficacy, toxicity, and survival outcomes followed by radical hysterectomy ((NACT-RS) among women with cervical cancer stage IB3 and IIA2, by comparing concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and NACT-RS. The study retrospectively reviewed patients with (2018 FIGO) stage IB3 and IIA2 cervical cancer who received preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by NACT-RS or concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). The outcome measures were the 5-year survival and complication rates between the two groups. The median follow-up was 75 months. In total, 218 patients had stage IIA2, 136 patients had stage IB3, 201 patients received CCRT, and 153 patients received preoperative NACT-RS. In the CCRT group, the incidence of early complications (myelosuppression, gastrointestinal and urinary) was higher compared with that in the NACT-RS group (76.1 vs. 26.1%; p < 0.001, respectively). There was no significant difference between the two study groups concerning late complications. Five-year PFS was 79.9% and 85.5% in the NACT-RS and CCRT groups, respectively (p = 0.093). Five-year OS was 86.9% and 85.5% in the NACT-RS and CCRT groups, respectively (p = 0.97). In the multivariate clinicopathologic characteristics analysis for OS, initial tumor size > 4.3 cm (HR 5.11; p < 0.001), AC/ASC (HR 1.89; p = 0.02), histologic grade 2–3 (HR 2.25; p = 0.04), and 2018 FIGO stage IIA2 (HR 8.67; p < 0.001) were independent risk factors. The survival of patients with stage IB3 and IIA2 cervical cancer treated with NACT-RS was similar to that of patients treated with CCRT without increasing side effects.