Management of advanced, metastatic, and recurrent cervical cancer: Survey of practice among Thai gynecologic oncologists

Abstract

© Journal of The Medical Association of Thailand Objective: To evaluate the current practice of Thai gynecologic oncologists in the management of patients with advanced, metastatic, and recurrent cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: This study was a part of the national practice survey on the management of gynecologic cancer in Thailand. All Thai gynecologic oncologists were targeted in the survey. This study retrieved the data regarding the practice of management of advanced-stage cervical cancer and recurrent disease. Results: Of 170 respondents, 90% used combination platinum/paclitaxel chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced and recurrent diseases. The combination of chemotherapy was used in about 81.8% and 27.6% in first-line and further line treatments, respectively. Single cisplatin was used in 14.1% as the second-line. Palliative treatment without chemotherapy was considered increasingly after first-line treatment and significantly more likely to implement among service hospitals compared to the comparative setting (8.9% vs. 1.2%: p = 0.030). Up to 36.6% (30/82) of the respondents who worked in training hospitals preferred to use targeted therapy, i.e. bevacizumab compared to 21.3% (16/75) of respondents who worked in service hospitals (p = 0.04). Conclusion: Combination platinum-based chemotherapy was commonly used as the first-line treatment for advanced and recurrent cervical cancer. The respondents in training hospitals were more likely to use targeted therapy than those in the service hospitals.