Interruptions in chemotherapy does not cut survival in patients with cervical cancer

Intercycle delays in first-line systemic chemotherapy do not appear to negatively affect survival among patients with metastatic or recurrent cervical cancer, reveals a study.

Of the 210 patients included in the analysis, 178 (85 percent) had at least one intercycle delay. A total of 1,873 chemotherapy cycles were completed, with 701 (37 percent) delays. The proportion of modifiable and nonmodifiable delays was equal (352 vs 349).

Patients with one or more intercycle delays showed a longer median progression-free survival (PFS) than those without delays (13 vs 8 months; p=0.042).

In subgroup analysis, patients with modifiable delays had improved PFS (p=0.036), while those with nonmodifiable delays showed a trend towards a better PFS relative to patients without any delay. Furthermore, no differences in PFS and overall survival were observed between the modifiable and nonmodifiable subgroups.

In this retrospective cohort study, the researchers identified patients with metastatic or recurrent cervical cancer and obtained their demographics, clinicopathologic data, first-line chemotherapy regimens with associated intercycle delays, and outcome measures from medical records.

Delays were then classified as either modifiable (social determinants of health, logistics, treatment break) or nonmodifiable (cytopenias, organ dysfunction, chemotherapy reaction, infection, ECOG status). The researchers analysed data to calculate significance using descriptive statistics, Kaplan-Meier survival estimate, and log-rank tests.

“Chemotherapy interruptions are a frequent event during treatment of solid tumours and have been associated with adverse survival outcomes,” the researchers said.