Robotic Surgery in Patients With Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Survival Outcomes.

AIM: To evaluate the survival outcomes of consecutive patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) who underwent comprehensive robotic surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Since 2009, patients with LACC (FIGO [International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics] stages IB2-IIB) were submitted to robotic surgical staging after 3 cycles of NACT. Clinical objective tumor response was assessed according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, whereas pathologic responses were defined according to the criteria of the European study SNAP01. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to assess potential clinicopathologic prognostic factors affecting progression-free survival and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS: During the study period, 32 patients meeting the inclusion criteria were managed. The median (range) age and body mass index were 47.3 (8.6-75.5) years and 22.7 (17.5-37.1) kg/m(2), respectively. Overall, 28.0 (range, 12-58) lymph nodes were retrieved. According to the final pathologic examination, 6 (18.8%) women had positive pelvic lymph nodes, whereas 16 (50.0%) patients achieved an optimal pathological response. After a median follow-up of 36.3 (range, 5.2-71.1) months, 6 (18.8%) patients had a recurrence and subsequently died of disease.Positive nodal status was the only independent predictor of both progression-free survival (12.5 [2.3-69.1]; P < 0.0001) and OS (12.0 [2.0-60.4]; P < 0.0001) at multivariable analysis.

CONCLUSIONS: Nodal status represents the strongest predictor of survival in women with LACC. Similarly, NACT including 3 agents (TIP [paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) + ifosfamide 5 g/m(2) + cisplatin 75 mg/m(2)] and TEP [paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) + epirubicin 80 mg/m(2) + cisplatin 75 mg/m(2)] regimens) warranted better OS than those achieved by other schedules.