Adjuvant chemotherapy after radical hysterectomy yields comparable outcomes to chemoradiation for stage IB2-IIB and IIIC1-2 cervical cancer: a single-center retrospective study.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate and compare recurrence-free survival (RFS) between radical hysterectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and initial chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer at our institution.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we enrolled patients diagnosed with stage IB2-IIB cervical cancer according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2018 staging system, who underwent either radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy or initial concurrent chemoradiation at our institution between 2009 and 2022.

Results: Among these patients, 74 and 110 underwent radical hysterectomy and chemoradiation, respectively. The radical hysterectomy group exhibited significantly improved RFS compared with the chemoradiation group; however, no significant difference was observed in overall survival between the groups. Cox hazard analysis for RFS showed that, among the clinical risk factors identified before the initial treatment, only parametrial invasion was statistically significant. No significant difference in RFS was observed between the radical hysterectomy group and chemoradiation group. Regarding recurrence patterns, para-aortic lymph node recurrence occurred significantly more frequently in the chemoradiation group than in the radical hysterectomy group. Postoperative ureteral injury was reported in once case and postoperative ureteral stenosis in 2 cases in the radical hysterectomy group. In contrast, vesicovaginal fistula and rectovaginal fistula were reported in one case each in the chemoradiation group.

Conclusion: Radical hysterectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy provided RFS outcomes comparable to those achieved with initial chemoradiotherapy for stage IB2-IIB and IIIC1-2 cervical cancer. These findings suggest that both approaches are viable, although further prospective studies are needed.