Improved Treatment for Cervical Cancer — Concurrent Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy

Despite screening programs, approximately 14,000 cases of invasive cervical cancer are diagnosed annually in the United States. In approximately half these cases, locally advanced disease is present at the time of diagnosis. In developing countries, the disease is usually advanced by the time of diagnosis, the prevalence is much higher, and cervical cancer is the principal cause of death due to cancer in women. Pelvic radiation has been the standard, definitive therapy for advanced disease. With this treatment, the overall five-year survival rate is approximately 65 percent, but it ranges from 15 to 80 percent, depending on the extent of . . .