Induction chemotherapy and radiotherapy of advanced cancer of the cervix: a pilot study and phase III randomized trial.

Purpose: This study assessed the effectiveness and toxicity of induction chemotherapy (CT) and radiation therapy (RT) in the treatment of locally advanced carcinoma of the cervix with data provided by a pilot study and a randomized trial.

Methods And Materials: Eighty-six patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Stage IB-IVA (Stage IB >4-cm tumor diameter) (Group A) were entered in a pilot study and treated with cisplatin (50 mg/m2), vincristine (1 mg/m2 on days 1, 11, and 21), bleomycin (25 mg/m2 infusion on days 1-3, 11-13, and 21-23), and standard RT. Ninety-six patients were randomized to either this same CT regimen and RT, or RT alone (Group B: CT plus RT or RT).

Breast conservation treatment of early stage breast cancer: patterns of failure.

Purpose: This study retrospectively assesses the patterns of failure in conservatively treated early stage breast cancer patients by correlating various clinical, pathologic, and treated-related factors with local, axillary, and distant relapse.

Methods And Materials: Between 1973 and 1990, 796 patients (817 breasts) received breast conservation surgery followed by radiotherapy. Local recurrences were counted as events even if they occurred simultaneously or after the appearance of axillary or distant metastases.