Adverse events and prognosis analysis in 422 cervical cancer patients after intensity modulated radiation therapy combined with brachytherapy

Objective To investigate the adverse events and efficacy in cervical cancer patients receiving intensity modulated radiationtherapy (IMRT) plusbrachytherapy with or without chemotherapy, and to indentify the factors that may affect the prognosis. Methods In this retrospective analysis, we analyzed the clinical and follow-up data of the 422 cervical cancer patients, who received IMRT plus brachytherapy with or without chemotherapy.Among these patients, 353 cases received concurrent chemoradiotherapy and the other 69 cases received radiotherapy alone. Kaplan-Meier method was utilized to calculate the overall survival (OS) rates. Log-rank-test and Cox regression were performed to executing the univariate and multivariate analysis of the OS, respectively. Results The rate of complete response (CR) in the patients receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy was significantly higher than that of the patients who received single radiotherapy (77.6% vs. 65.2%, χ2=4.812, P 0.05). The OS for the patients receiving prophylactic extended field irradiation of the PALN was higher than that of patients without prophylactic radiation (χ2=3.953, P<0.05). Conclusions Cervical cancer patients receiving IMRT plus brachytherapy with or without chemotherapy had achieved promising prognosis. Prophylactic extended field irradiation of the PALN contributed to the improved OS in the patients with pelvic lymph node metastasis. FIGO staging, pathology type, lymph node metastasis, radiotherapy concurrent with chemotherapy or not, and short-term efficiency were independent factors for the prognosis. Key words: Cervical cancer; Radiotherapy; Brachytherapy; Chemotherapy; Prognosis