Bleomycin-mitomycin C in advanced carcinoma of the cervix. A third look.

Thirty-three patients with advanced cervical cancer (31 squamous cancer, two adenosquamous cancer) previously untreated with cytotoxic drugs, were treated with bleomycin, 5 mg daily, for seven days and mitomycin C, 10 mg, on day 8. This regimen was repeated four times at two-week intervals. All but one patient had previously been treated with radiotherapy; 36% of the patients had an objective response (five complete remission (CR), median duration 12 months; seven partial remission (PR), median duration six months). Severe myelosuppression occurred in nine patients. One drug-related death due to thrombocytopenia occurred. Three patients developed pulmonary fibrosis and one of them died of respiratory failure. The bleomycin-mitomycin C regimen has a definite but clearly limited effect in advanced cancer of the uterine cervix.