Cervical cancer success

Friday August 20th, 2010

A combination treatment used against cervical cancer has saved "hundreds of lives", British researchers have reported.

A Leicester oncologist has led an audit of combination treatment - concluding it has cut deaths by 23 per cent.

The combination of radiotherapy and the drug cisplatin is now standard in the UK - and the new research says this has been highly successful.

Dr Paul Symonds was supported by the UK Medical Research Council in conducting an audit for the Royal College of Radiologists.

He studied the cases of some 1,412 patients treated at 42 centres over the last decade.

His conclusions are to be reported in the journal Clinical Oncology next month.

Dr Symonds said British treatment now compared with the best anywhere in the world.

He said: "The addition of cisplatin to radiation has literally saved the lives of hundreds of women with locally advanced cancer in the east midlands.

"What the national audit has shown is that the addition of cisplatin improves survival. The addition of cisplatin in routine UK practice reduces the odds of death by 23 per cent. As this is curative treatment we can genuinely say that this is a reduction in the odds of death."

He added: "This audit showed a marked improvement in 5-year survival of locally advanced cervix cancer compared to the last national audit of patients who were treated in 1993."

Clinical Oncology September 2010

Tags: Cancer | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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