Abstract:
Background and purpose: A variety of measures are taken preoperatively to reduce the tumor size of stage Ⅰb2 bulky cervical cancer before surgery. Which one is safer and more effective, currently, there is no consensus. This article compared the effect in 3 different treatment methods (neoadjuvant chemotherapy, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and operation) on patients with stage Ⅰb2 bulky cervical cancer, and provided evidence for clinical decision. Methods: Retrospective analysis the clinical date of 133 Ⅰb2 bulky cervical cancer patients, who received preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and direct operation from Apr. 2006 to Oct. 2010 in our hospital. Results: The effective rates of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy group were 91.8% and 92.5%, respectively, there was no statistical difference(P>0.05). The tumor size got smaller after treatment compared with the size before treatment (P<0.05); The pathological efficiency rates were 95.56% and 97.30%, respectively, the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The bleeding volume of neoadjuvant chemo radio therapy group was significantly higher than those in the other 2 groups (158.9±50.7 vs 116.8±45.5, 123.1±30.2; P<0.05), the infection of immediate surgery group was more severe than the other 2 groups (P<0.05). The pairwise comparison of average operation time in neoadjuvant chemotherapy group, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy group, and the immediate surgery group, pairwise comparisons of neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and the immediate surgery group in bleeding, comparion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy group on postoperative infection, and the comparison of the 3 groups on pelvic organ injury and lymphocele, had no statistical difference(P>0.05); Pathological examination showed that vascular invasion in surgery group had statistical differences than other 2 groups (P<0.05), there was no patient with positive margin in the 3 groups, and the lymph node metastasis rates also had no statistical difference (P>0.05); Besides, there were no statistical difference on vascular invasion between the 3 groups (P>0.05); And on 3-year overall survival, disease-free survival there was no statistical difference between the 3 groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can effectively reduce tumor size for patients with stage Ⅰb2 bulky cervical cancer before operation, it is better than direct surgery or preoperative chemoradiotherapy in improving the resection rate, and reducing postoperative pathological positive rate, and infection. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can improve the pathological complete remission rate. The combination of radiation and chemotherapy might produce synergistic effect on huge cervical tumor, but it can’t improve the survival rate. Therefore, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is the best choice for the stage Ⅰb2 cervical cancer patients. Therefore, a long-term followup or large sample randomized controlled trials is necessary to assess the prognosis of preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

Key words: Ⅰb2, Bulky cervical cancer, Clinical observation, Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy