Patterns of care for invasive cervical cancer. Results of a national survey of 1984 and 1990

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Abstract
The American College of Surgeons conducted a national patient care and evaluation study of invasive cervical cancer to measure any changes in patterns of care for the years 1984 and 1990. Hospitals with cancer programs were invited to submit data on up to 25 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed invasive cervical cancer for each of the two study years. Data were obtained from 684 hospitals on 5904 patients diagnosed in 1984 and from 700 hospitals on 5817 patients diagnosed in 1990. A long term study of patients diagnosed in 1984 was compared with a short term study of patients diagnosed in 1990. Survival data were described only for patients diagnosed in 1984. Of a total of 11,721 patients, 59.4% were diagnosed and treated at the reporting institution in 1984 and 54.8% in 1990. The remaining patients were referred for treatment after diagnosis elsewhere. The diagnosis was established by cervical biopsy for 69.8% of patients, by conization alone for 9.3%, and by both procedures for 11.8%. The histopathologic diagnoses were squamous cell carcinoma (79.8%), adenocarcinoma (15.8%), and other (4.4%). The stage distributions were as follows: IA, 15.9%; IB, 36.8%; IIA, 8.2%; IIB, 15.5%; IIIA, 2.5%; IIIB, 13.3%; IVA, 2.6%; and IVB, 5.2%. The stage was listed as unknown for 20.3% of patients. Patients were treated with surgery alone (29.2%), radiation alone (40.7%), chemotherapy alone (0.7%), or combination therapy (21.5%), and 7.9% received no treatment at the reporting institution. The overall survival for patients diagnosed in 1984 was 68.3%. Survival by stage in this group was as follows: IA, 93.7%; IB, 80.0%; IIA, 67.2%; IIB, 64.7%; III, 37.9%; and IV, 11.3%. These data indicate that invasive cervical cancer is highly curable when diagnosed early. During the 5-year period, stage distributions were similar, the use of extended hysterectomy increased, and gynecologic oncologists were more often the primary surgeons. The use of radiation alone decreased.