Radiation therapy alone or combined with surgery in the treatment of barrel-shaped carcinoma of the uterine cervix (stages IB, IIA, IIB).

This retrospective analysis reports the results of therapy in 128 patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix classified as barrel-shaped or expanded cervix (over 5 cm in diameter). Seventy-five percent of the patients were treated with irradiation alone and 25% with combinations of irradiation and surgery. The results of therapy are compared with those observed in 714 patients with non-barrel-shaped carcinoma of the uterine cervix treated with similar techniques during the same period of time. The distribution of histological type of tumor was similar in both groups (90% epidermoid carcinoma, 8% adenocarcinoma, and 2% adenosquamous carcinoma). Approximately 15% of the patients in both groups with Stage IB and 25% with Stage IIA and IIB had positive endometrial curettings (stromal invasion or replacement by tumor only). Thus, the aggressive behavior observed in the barrel-shaped tumors is not a result of endometrial involvement, but to the large volume of tumor present. The actuarial 5-year tumor free survival in Stage IB barrel-shaped cervix was 76% compared to 92% in the non-barrel-shaped lesions. In Stage IIA the 5-year NED survival for patients with barrel-shaped cervix was 60 compared to 80% for the patients with non-barrel-shaped cervix. In Stage IIB the survival rates were 58 and 70%, respectively. A noteworthy finding in this analysis is the high incidence of distant metastases in the patients with barrel-shaped cervix (32% in Stage IB, 40% in Stage IIA, and 32% in Stage IIB) in comparison with patients with non-barrel-shaped tumors (10% in Stage IB, 16% in Stage IIA, and 25% in Stage IIB). The incidence of pelvic failures was comparable in both groups. Higher doses of irradiation resulted in better tumor control, which was comparable to that observed with a combination of irradiation and surgery (conservative hysterectomy). The 5-year survival rate in Stage IB was similar in both the barrel-shaped and non-barrel-shaped tumors treated with irradiation alone or combination irradiation and surgery. In Stage IIA the non-barrel-shaped lesions had the same survival with either treatment technique. In the barrel-shape group, eight patients treated with irradiation alone or survival of 70%, compared to 45% in 24 patients treated with irradiation alone. However, these differences are not statistically significant (p = .50). In eight patients treated with definitive irradiation and a lymphadenectomy and four patients irradiated after an exploratory laparotomy, two major and three minor (grade 2) complications were noted.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)