Therapeutic management and survival of cervical cancer at the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology (2004-2010)

Abstract

Introduction: cervical cancer is one of the main public health problems in the world due to its high incidence and mortality rates in women.
Objective: to describe the management of patients diagnosed with uterine cervical cancer admitted and treated at the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology.
Method: descriptive, retrospective study in a series of 853 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer (stages IA-IVA, FIGO 2009). Hypothesis testing and survival analysis were performed. The Kaplan-Meier statistical method was used to estimate survival. The Long Rank test was used to compare survival by strata. Statistically significant difference was considered p < 0.05.
Results: mean age of the patients, 49.7 years (DS: ± 13.9), 56.6 % had not performed the cervical cytology. Cytological follow-up, according to the Early Diagnosis Program of Cervical Cancer, was met by 84.1 % of the women surveyed; in 15.9 % of the cases, the cytological follow-up period was superior to 3 years. Epidermoid carcinoma was the most frequent histological variety (88.2 %). Of the total number of patients, 87.1 % were diagnosed in locally advanced stages (FIGO IB2-IVA). The most commonly used therapeutic modality was concurrent chemo radiotherapy. The overall survival rate at diagnosis was 47.2 %. The median survival was 4 years. Age at diagnosis and tumor stage showed a statistically significant association with overall survival (p < 0.005).
Conclusion: cervical cancer incidence and mortality, as well as its stability over the last five years, require more extensive studies and research aimed at evaluating the health programs, systems and services involved.