Neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined  with radical surgery for stage IB2/IIA2 cervical squamous cell carcinoma:A prospective, randomized controlled study of 35 patients

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes for patients with stage IB2/IIA2 cervical squamous cell carcinoma treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with radical surgery. Methods: A total of 68 patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma were randomly divided into the experimental group (n = 35) and the control group (n = 33). The patients in the experimental group received paclitaxel plus cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy for two cycles after the diagnosis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and were rested for 2 weeks after chemotherapy, The control group underwent radical hysterectomy and bilateral adnexectomy combined with total pelvic lymph node dissection after the diagnosis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. The toxic and side effects of chemotherapy in the experimental group were observed. Also, the operation method, operation time, blood loss, grade of wound healing, complications, and postoperative pathology were noted in the two groups. Primary foci and pelvic lymph node recurrence and distant metastasis were observed, and 3-year and 5-year survival rates were calculated. Results. Only one patient in the experiment had grade Ⅲ bone marrow suppression; no other grade III and IV chemotherapy toxic reactions were observed. The operation was successfully completed in all patients. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, placement of ureteral catheter, bladder injury, ureteric injury, postoperative urinary tub, pelvic drainage tube indwelling time, anal exhaust time, postoperative complications, and metastatic ratio of lymph nodes were not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05); The number of dissected lymph nodes, deep myometrial invasion, and vascular tumor emboli showed a significant difference in the experimental group compared with the control group (P < 0.05). The 3-year disease-free survival (82.9% vs 81.9%), 5-year disease-free survival (71.4% vs 60.6%), 3-year overall survival (91.4% vs 87.8%), and 5-year overall survival (82.9% vs 75.6%) were not statistically significantly different between the experimental group and the control group (P > 0.05). Conclusions. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in ⅠB2/ⅡA2 stage cervical squamous cell carcinoma showed low toxic side effects. Radical surgery after chemotherapy is safe and feasible. It plays a coordinating role in reducing the tumor infiltration depth of the deep muscle layer and the incidence of vascular tumor emboli, reducing the use of postoperative adjuvant therapy, and improving the quality of life of patients, but does not improve the 3-year/5-year survival rate.