A preliminary report of combination chemotherapy with cisplatin and mitomycin-C followed by radical hysterectomy or radiation therapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin and mitomycin-C was used in the primary treatment of 17 patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (stages Ib–IIIb; tumor diameter greater than 5 cm) prior to definitive local treatment with radical hysterectomy or radiotherapy. Thirteen of the seventeen patients (76.5%) responded to initial chemotherapy, permitting a radical hysterectomy in ten patients. At histologic examination of the surgically resected primary tumor and lymph nodes, complete pathologic responses were found in 2 patients and partial pathologic responses in 8 patients. The median follow-up time is 14.5 months with a median survival for all patients of 52 weeks. All responders are alive. No therapy-related deaths, major complications, or delay in treatment occurred. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with mitomycin-C and cisplatin is feasible and may be of benefit for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer.