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Thirty-four patients with advanced or recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix no longer amenable to control with surgery and/or radiotherapy were treated with cis-platinum 50 mg/m2 intravenously every three weeks. Among 22 patients who had received no prior chemotherapy, three complete and eight partial responses were observed (response rate 50%), whereas only two partial responses were observed among 12 patients who had received prior chemotherapy (response rate 17%). The observed response rate was marginally significantly higher among those with no prior chemotherapy (p = 0.059). The overall frequency of response was 38% (13/34). Responses were observed in those with pelvic (7/20) as well as extrapelvic disease (6/14). Adverse effects included primarily leukopenia (11/34), thrombocytopenia (13/34), nausea and vomiting (29/34), and azotemia (17/34). Adverse effects were generally mild to moderate and hence tolerable. Cis-platinum thus appears to be a highly active agent in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix at the dose and schedule tested.

Background. The authors' aim was to assess whether there is a difference in biologic behavior and survival in comparing adenocarcinoma (AdCA), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and adenosquamous carcinoma (Ad/SC) of the cervix. Methods. Cancer registrars at 703 hospitals submitted anonymous data on 11,157 patients with cervical cancer diagnosed and/or treated in 1984 and 1990 for a Patient Care Evaluation Study of the American College of Surgeons. Among these patients, 9351 (83.8%) had SCC; 1405 (12.6%), AdCA; and 401 (3.6%), Ad/SC cancers. There were no significant changes in percentages of the different histologic types between the study years 1984 and 1990, nor was the patient distribution different regarding age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic background for each histologic group. Furthermore, the distribution of patients who had had a hysterectomy did not change between 1984 and 1990. Results. A larger percent of patients with SCC (63.8%) than those with Ad/SC (59.8%) or AdCA (50.2%) had tumors larger than 3 cm at greatest dimension. Early stage patients (IA, IB, IIA) often were treated by hysterectomy alone (45.5%) or combined with radiation (21.1%). The remaining patients (21.9%) received radiation alone. Of the patients with clinical stage I disease, 7.6% of Ad/CA patients, 15.5% of Ad/SC patients and 12.6% of SCC patients had positive nodes Although patients with SCC had higher survival rates for all four clinical stages (I‐IV), the differences were only significant for Stage II patients. Patients with clinical stage IB SCC and AdCA treated by surgery alone were found to have significantly better survival rates (93.1% and 94.6% at 5 years, respectively) than women treated by either radiation alone or a combination of surgery and radiation (P < 0.001, both histologic comparisons). For women with Ad/SC tumors, however, the 5‐year survival rate was 87.3% for those receiving combined treatment compared with those receiving surgery alone (69.2%) or radiation alone (79.2%). However, these survival curves were not significantly different (P = 0.496). One hundred six patients with positive nodes were available for analysis. The 5‐year survival rate of patients with SCC and positive nodes was 76.1%. Surprisingly, patients with Ad/SC and positive nodes had the highest 5‐year survival rate (85.7%), whereas, women with AdCA and positive nodes had a sharply reduced 5‐year survival rate (33.3%). The curves were significantly different(P< 0.01). For patients with clinical stage I, the risk factors for age, tumor size, nodal status, histologic features, and treatment were analyzed with Cox's multivariate regression. In this analysis, subset IB, greater tumor size, age 80 or older, and positive nodal status were each independently significant for poorer survival. Patients who were treated by surgery alone had a significantly better survival than patients who had other types of treatment or no treatment. Histologic characteristics had no significant effect on survival. In the analysis of patients with pathologic ...