Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and less invasive surgery for the management of early stage cervical cancer: A brief report from Botswana

• Main Authors: Surbhi Grover (Author), Rebecca Luckett (Author), Rohini K. Bhatia (Author), Tlotlo Ralefala (Author), Alexander Seiphetlheng (Author), Doreen Ramogola-Masire (Author), Barati Monare (Author), Lisa Bazzett-Matabele (Author), Kathleen Schmeler (Author), Ponatshego Andrew Gaolebale (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Elsevier, 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2352-5789; 10.1016/j.gore.2022.101032
• Keywords: Cervical cancer; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Hysterectomy; LMICs; Gynecology and obstetrics; RG1-991; Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens; RC254-282
• Source: Gynecologic Oncology Reports, Vol 42, Iss , Pp 101032- (2022)

The majority of deaths from cervical cancer occur in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). The standard of care for early-stage cervical cancer (FIGO 2018 IA2-IB1) is radical hysterectomy, a procedure performed by trained gynecologic oncologists. However, the lack of gynecologic oncologists in LMICs has required exploration into other methods of treatment for early-stage cervical cancer. A potential course of treatment for early-stage cervical cancer is neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by simple hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node sampling, which can be performed by a general gynecologist. We gathered data for 8 women who underwent this method of treatment and found that cause-specific survival was 100% over a 3.5-year median follow-up. These findings support the exploration for this method of treatment for early-stage cervical cancer in LMICs, which would improve access to treatment for these women and hopefully reduce the high burden of cervical cancer related deaths in LMICs.