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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
New cervical cancer treatment cuts risk of death from disease,
according to trial results
By Sam Tupper
Updated:
11:42 AM EDT, Wed October 16, 2024
Source: CNN
Adding a six-week course of chemotherapy to the standard course of
treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer resulted in a
significant increase in survival rates, .
The study, published Monday in the journal The Lancet, involved 500
patients from 32 medical centers in Brazil, India, Italy, Mexico and
the UK who were randomly assigned into two groups between 2012 and
2022. All had locally advanced cervical cancer, although none had
tumors that had spread to other organs.
The control group received only chemoradiotherapy, a standard process
that included treatment with radiation and the drug cisplatin. The
experimental group received six weeks of treatment with carboplatin and
paclitaxel chemotherapy before beginning chemoradiotherapy.
The researchers found that 80% of those who got a short course of
chemotherapy first lived at least five more years, and 72% did not
have any cancer return or spread. In the control group, 72% survived
at least five years, and 64% had no cancer return or spread.
Most patients had some kind of adverse event during treatment,
including fatigue or weakness, gastrointestinal problems, infections or
low white blood cell counts. Severe or life-threatening events happened
in 59% of the group that got initial chemotherapy, compared with 48%
of those who got chemoradiotherapy alone.
The researchers say theirs is the first randomized phase three study to
show a “significant survival advantage” using chemotherapy before
chemoradiotherapy, representing a “clinically meaningful
improvement” at a “relatively low cost.” The drugs are cheap and
widely available, they say.
“This is the biggest improvement in outcome in this disease in over
20 years,” Dr. Mary McCormack of University College Hospital, lead
author of the study, said in . “I’m incredibly proud of all the
patients who participated in the trial; their contribution has allowed
us to gather the evidence needed to improve treatment of cervical
cancer patients everywhere.”
Cisplatin-based chemotherapy is one of the most commonly used methods
of treating cervical cancer, . While tumor removal surgery is an
option, some experts tend to prefer chemotherapy.
“We know that surgery is going to leave some of the cancer behind,”
said Dr. Otis Brawley, a professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins
University and former chief medical officer of the American Cancer
Society, who was not involved with the new research. “If you can
treat with radiation and chemotherapy, you have a chance that you’re
going to sterilize the pelvis of all of the cancer. … We have the
chances that we’re going to put women into a prolonged, complete
remission.”
Cervical cancer was once the leading cause of cancer death for women in
the United States, he noted. In 2008, , a German virologist, won the
Nobel Prize for his research demonstrating that cervical cancer in
humans is caused by certain types of human papillomavirus, or HPV. This
discovery led to the development of an HPV vaccine that can help
prevent cervical cancer in women.
However, still kills about each year. Warning signs include abnormal
bleeding or discharge.
Brawley stressed the importance of routine cervical screening as
advanced-stage cervical cancer rises among in the US.
According to the US , cervical cancer screenings typically test for
signs of HPV that can cause cell changes on the cervix. The screenings
also include a Pap test to look for precancer cell changes.
The US Food and Drug Administration greenlit this year for patients
to collect their own vaginal samples to test for HPV, streamlining the
screening process.
“It’s almost totally preventable with either the HPV vaccine or
screening,” Brawley said. “Of the 4,400 deaths from cervical
cancer, none of them get screened every year.”
Chemotherapy to treat cervical cancer can come with unpleasant side
effects like nausea, vomiting and hair loss, Brawley noted. He hopes
the future of treatment will involve more personalized options like
immunotherapy, which uses a person’s own immune system to fight
cancer.
“The greatest hope is immunotherapy,” he said. “We’re hoping we
can actually help even more women with less side effects.”
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