Female cervical cancer patients first undergo「Chemotherapy“accept again「radiation therapy“, the death or recurrence rate can be reduced by 35%. The results of this clinical trial, recently announced at a meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology, are the most significant breakthrough in the treatment of cervical cancer in the past 20 years.The research was led by the University College London Institute of Cancer Research(UCL Cancer Institute)MaryDr. Mary McCormack.
Cervical cancer kills more than 300,000 women worldwide every year and is one of the top ten causes of cancer death among women in my country. As Taiwan has made great efforts to promote free vaccination of female students to prevent cervical cancer, and also provides free cancer screening for women over 30 years old, the incidence of cervical cancer in the country has been declining year by year, but it still causes about 600 deaths every year. . In the UK, thousands of women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, many of whom are only around 30 years old. Although radiotherapy can effectively control the disease, up to one-third of patients will still have their disease relapse or worsen, so more effective treatment strategies are still needed.
In this clinical trial, 250 female subjects with cervical cancer in the experimental group received a new treatment strategy:It starts with six weeks of chemotherapy, and then “conventional” radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy drugs is given, which is called「Chemoradiotherapy“(Chemoradiotherapy). The 250 subjects in the control group received only chemotherapy and radiotherapy. After five years, 28% of the subjects in the control group had died and 36% had recurred or spread; while only 20% of those who received the new treatment had died and 27% had relapsed or spread. Overall, the risk of cancer recurrence or death was Reduced by 35%.
“What’s more important is that if patients don’t come back within five years, their cancer is likely to be cured, and that’s why it’s very exciting,” Dr. McCormack said on the BCC program. Moreover, chemotherapy drugs are relatively cheap and easy to obtain, and the medical community has accumulated considerable experience with chemotherapy drugs. Experts say they may soon become the new standard of care.
The catch is that it is not 100% certain whether all patients will benefit from the new treatment. Because most of the patients in this study had cancer cells that had not spread to other parts of the body, it is unclear how effective the new treatment would be for advanced cervical cancer that has already spread.
(The first picture is a schematic; source: Unsplash)
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