Adjuvant therapy for cervical cancer [Adjuvante therapie beim zervixkarzinom]

Simultaneous radiochemotherapy with a platinum-containing chemotherapeutic agent is presently the standard treatment warranted for patients after appropriate radical surgery for cervical cancer in FIGO stage IIb. According to the current standard of scientific knowledge, all patients with FIGO stage IIa-Ib and at least one additional risk factor (adenocarcinoma, pN1, L1, V1, pT1b2) also profit from adjuvant radiochemotherapy. Based on in vitro (synergistic effect) and in vivo data for other tumor entities, it appears advisable to review the combination of a platinum-containing chemotherapeutic agent with paclitaxel in the adjuvant setting for patients with cervical cancer. Data on cancer patients regarding possible survival benefit, depending on serum Hb concentration, are at present inconsistent. Data from a randomized phase III trial on the situation of adjuvant therapy for cervical cancer are available, which document in an interim analysis a positive trend in terms of survival benefit for patients simultaneously receiving erythropoietin.