Limitations of adjunctive surgery in carcinoma of the cervix

This study analyzed 41 patients with bulky/barrel-shaped Stage IIB cervical carcinoma. Twenty patients were treated with radical radiation alone. Twenty one patients had post-radiation surgery; ten underwent total abdominal hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy and eleven underwent extrafascial hysterectomy. Histologic review of the submitted specimens showed complete tumor sterilization in all but two. One of these had a microscopic focus of residual tumor with changes suggesting radiation damage; the other had wide-spread disease. All but one of the submitted nodal specimens were negative. Among patients receiving radiation and surgery, there was a 15% incidence of fistulization. In addition these patients had an unusually high incidence (60%) of prolonged (more than 18 months) unilateral and bilateral obstructive uropathy. Patients managed by radiation alone showed a 5% incidence of fistulization and 30% incidence of obstructive uropathy. This high incidence of ureteral obstruction following radiation alone without concurrent disease has not been reported previously. This study questions the routine use of abdominal hysterectomy with or without lymphadenectomy following radical radiation therapy in the treatment of Stage IIB disease and outlines the criteria for the combination of the modalities