Modern diagnostics and treatment of distant metastasis of cervical cancer

Abstract

Cervical cancer comprises a major female health problem worldwide. Despite population screening programmes, broad vaccination, precision pathogenesis studies and emergent diagnostics and treatment strategies, its prevalence is rising by year. We increasingly report the spread of disease, particularly of metastatic cervical cancer. The such patients’ prognosis is far from favourable. We review the literature relevant to diagnostic and treatment options in metastatic cervical cancer. The options and survival rates described vary by the locality of metastatic lesions and routes of metastasis. Patients with haematogenous metastases have a worse prognosis than patients with lymphogenous ones. From a diagnostic point of view, 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG PET) and PET-computed tomography remain efficacious for detecting distant metastases. Adjuvant chemotherapy and concurrent chemoradiotherapy are effective in lymphogenous metastases. Haematogenous lung metastases resection and/or chemotherapy are the tactics of choice to contain relapsed metastatic cervical cancer. Accordingly, chemoradiotherapy is the optimal choice in patients with stage IVB cervical cancer. Multimodal therapy has revealed better survival prognosis. Stereotactic radiosurgery or craniotomy is indicated in oligometastatic brain lesions, with treatment outcomes and survival rates improving for the techniques’ combination with whole-brain radiation therapy. However, in multiple metastasis to brain or extracranial metastasis, chemotherapy combined with palliative whole-brain radiation are left as the only option.