Purpose: To compare the efficacy of MRI and FIGO stage, we performed retrospective multicenter analysis of patients with Stage II-III disease treated with radiation alone.
Methods and materials: From three institutions, 164 patients diagnosed with cervical carcinoma were entered into the study. The majority of this cohort received intracavitary brachytherapy combined with external beam radiotherapy (n = 161). Uni- and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the prognostic factors for overall survival (OAS), disease-free survival (DFS), pelvic control (PC), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS).
Results: The 5-year OAS, DFS, PC, and DMFS rates were 68.8%, 60.4%, 77.4%, and 71.7%, respectively. Using uni- and multivariate analyses, both large tumor size/volume and positive lymph node enlargement (LN) showed a significantly unfavorable influence on survival and local and/or distant failure (p < 0.05). Using these two prognostic factors, patients were divided into three subgroups; the 5-year DFS rates of patients with risk 0 (volume </=50 cc and negative LN), 1 (volume >50 cc or positive LN), and 2 (volume >50 cc and positive LN) were 72.9%, 53.3%, and 26.1%, respectively (p < 0.0001). Among patients with volume </=50 cc, disease stage proved to be a significantly prognostic factor of OAS, DFS, and PC (p < 0.05). However, these correlations were not observed in the large volume group (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: MRI will provide more useful and practical information than will FIGO stage classification for patients with bulky disease, although this will remain a prognostic factor for patients with nonbulky disease (volume </=50 cc). With the aid of MRI, accurate and practical evaluation of clinical outcome could be achieved.