Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (a new paradigm in cervical cancer treatment)

During the last century, the mainstay for the treatment of uterine cervix cancer has been via two main primary treatment modalities, these being radical surgery (radical hysterectomy and regional lymph nodes dissection) and radiotherapy. Generally, radical surgery is restricted to stages I and IIa of FIGO (the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) Classification, while radiotherapy may be applied to all stages of cervical cancer. In 1999 the National Cancer Institute Clinical Announcement established concurrent chemoradiotherapy as a new primary treatment modality, which is the focus of this review.