Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with vincristine and cisplatin followed by radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy for FIGO stage IB bulky cervical cancer: a Gynecologic Oncology Group pilot study.

Thirty-five patients with bulky (designated as > or = 4 cm size) International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Stage IB cervical cancer were treated with cisplatin, 50 mg/m2, and vincristine, 1 mg/m2, administered intravenously at 10-day intervals for a total of three courses before planned radical hysterectomy. One patient died of unrelated cause following one course of chemotherapy and was not evaluated for response. Of the 34 evaluable patients who completed chemotherapy, a complete clinical response was noted in two patients (6%) and a partial response in 26 patients (76%). Five patients (15%) had stable disease and one patient (3%) had disease progression. All chemotherapy was completed within 4 weeks (range 17-28 days). There was no grade 4 toxicity noted. Only one case each of reversible grade 3 granulocytopenia and stomatitis and two cases of reversible grade 3 peripheral neuropathy were noted. Of the 34 patients who received chemotherapy, the only patient with disease progression received standard pelvic radiation therapy in lieu of radical surgery. A second patient with stable disease had unresectable pelvic lymph node metastases and underwent confirmatory lymph node biopsy only and received standard radiation therapy postoperatively. The remaining 32 patients underwent radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy from 12 to 49 days following chemotherapy. Surgery was performed without significant difficulty. Eight of these patients (25%) had pelvic node metastases and received postoperative pelvic radiation therapy. Twenty-four months following initiation of treatment, 25 (74%) were alive and presumed free of disease, 4 had died of cancer (12%), 1 was alive with recurrence (3%), and 4 patients (12%) were lost to follow-up. A prospective randomized study is needed to assess the value of this approach compared with standard management.