Research Article Radiation Therapy with Concurrent Chemotherapy for Locally Advanced Cervical Carcinoma: Outcome Analysis with Emphasis on the Impact of Treatment Duration on Outcome

Copyright © 2014 Juan Diaz et al.This is an open access article distributed under theCreativeCommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective. To assess the effectiveness and toxicity of carboplatin concurrent with pelvic external beam radiation and low-dose rate brachytherapy and to assess the impact that adherence to the treatment plan has on outcomes.Methods. Retrospective chart review of 56 patients treated from January 2001 to December 2010. Results. Median follow-up was 68 months. Optimal dose of radiation (ORT) was defined as a minimal cervical dose exceeding 70Gy, point A dose of 80–90Gy, and duration not exceeding 56 days. Only 50 % received ORT. In multivariable analyses we only found ORT to be statistically significant predictor for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) (HR [95 % CI] for non-ORT vs. ORT: 2.4 [1.2, 5.1]