Radical hysterectomy in the treatment of cervical cancer.

Two hundred and forty-one patients were treated with radical hysterectomy at our institution between 1949 and December, 1978. The corrected 5-year survival rate for all patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix was 73%. Seventeen percent of patients with occult invasive carcinoma had positive lymph nodes at the time of operation. The corrected 5-year survival rate for patients with Stage IB carcinoma who had positive nodes was 66%. Operations for recurrent or persistent disease after radiotherapy resulted in a 5-year survival rate of 54%. Current indications for radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy at our center are discussed.