Although global health scores are not significantly different, women after PRT report more physical, social, and sexual symptoms. These results can be well used by physicians to inform their patients about treatment-related morbidity.

Appropriate rehabilitation programs should be developed for CC survivors to prevent and reduce not only vaginal sexual symptoms but also sexual pain worry, relationship dissatisfaction, and body image concerns to reduce sexual distress.

This study confirms that variables such as large tumor diameter, nonsquamous histology, lymph vascular space invasion, deep stromal invasion, positive lymph nodes, and parametrial infiltration are poor prognostic variables in early cervix cancer treated by surgery. The extent of parametrectomy had no influence on survival in tumors of 20 mm or less. For larger tumors, a more radical hysterectomy might be associated with better DFS. Taking into account the possible bias in this study as a result of its retrospective design, ideally a prospective cohort study with clear definition of radicality is necessary to answer this important clinical question.

Patients undergoing more radical surgery for early-stage cervical cancer report significantly more urinary dysfunction, whereas bowel function and health-related QoL are not decreased.

In patients with clinically N0 early-stage cervical cancer with intraoperative detection of positive nodes, completing RHL followed by adjuvant (chemo-)radiotherapy may result in a better pelvic control compared with abandoning hysterectomy and treatment with chemoradiotherapy. However, if corrected for lymph node variables, treatment (RHL or CRT) was not associated with DFS.

No abstract

The vesical plexus is located in both layers of the vesicouterine ligament and has a very close relationship with the distal ureter. Complete mobilization of the ureter in RHL might cause bladder dysfunction due to sympathetic and parasympathetic denervation. Hence, the distal ureter should be regarded as a risk zone in which the vesical plexus can be damaged.

In the context of current knowledge about survival and side effects of various treatments for bulky early-stage cervical cancer, radical surgery is a good treatment option in these patients. Depending on the type of surgery used, adjuvant radiotherapy can be minimized.