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, according to a retrospective study.
Researchers found that patients who received brachytherapy in addition to chemotherapy and external beam radiation therapy had better overall survival than patients who received chemoradiation alone.
Although the best overall survival was observed in patients who received brachytherapy within the recommended 8 weeks, patients who received brachytherapy outside that timeframe also had better overall survival than patients treated with chemoradiation alone.
Travis-Riley K. Korenaga, MD, of University of California, San Francisco, presented these findings at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
To examine the use of brachytherapy, Dr. Korenaga and his colleagues analyzed patients from the U.S. National Cancer Database who had stage II-IVA cervical cancer and were diagnosed between 2004 and 2015.
The researchers identified 18,592 patients who received at least 4,500 cGy of external beam radiation therapy and concurrent chemotherapy as their primary treatment. In this group, there were 17,150 patients who had data on brachytherapy use and time to treatment completion.
A majority of patients (n = 13,642) received brachytherapy, and roughly half of those (n = 6,871) received it within the recommended 8 weeks.
“This is a pretty low rate of adherence to standard of care; 36.9% of women receive brachytherapy and complete it within that 8-week timeframe,” Dr. Korenaga said. “And that 36.9% of women do have a superior overall survival that blows everything else out of the water.”
The median overall survival was:
- 113.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 103.3-121.3) in patients who received brachytherapy within 8 weeks
- 75.7 months (95% CI, 69.7-82.4) in those who received brachytherapy for more than 8 weeks
- 58.5 months (95% CI, 48.3-74.2) in patients who received only chemoradiation within 8 weeks
- 46.2 months (95% CI, 39.8-56.4) in those who received only chemoradiation for more than 8 weeks.
“Getting some type of brachytherapy, no matter whether it’s within 8 weeks or beyond 8 weeks, is still associated with an improved overall survival,” Dr. Korenaga noted.
He and his colleagues also identified factors that were significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of receiving brachytherapy within 8 weeks, including:
- Having stage III/IVA disease vs. stage II disease (P less than .0001)
- Being non-Hispanic black vs. non-Hispanic white (P less than .001)
- Having an annual income below $38,000 vs. $63,000 or higher (P less than .0001)
- Having public vs. private insurance (P less than .0001)
- Living 10 to 60 miles (P = .01) or more than 100 miles (P less than .001) from the treatment facility vs. less than 10 miles
- Being treated at a facility with a community cancer program (P = .02) or a comprehensive community cancer program (P less than .0001) vs. an academic research program.
Dr. Korenaga said these results highlight the fact that more work needs to be done to increase the use of brachytherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer.
He and his colleagues have suggested a few measures that might help, including early referrals for brachytherapy, connecting patients with care navigators, and developing centers of excellence for brachytherapy.
Dr. Korenaga had no relevant financial disclosures.
SOURCE: Korenaga TRK et al. SGO 2019. Abstract 10.
, according to a retrospective study.
Researchers found that patients who received brachytherapy in addition to chemotherapy and external beam radiation therapy had better overall survival than patients who received chemoradiation alone.
Although the best overall survival was observed in patients who received brachytherapy within the recommended 8 weeks, patients who received brachytherapy outside that timeframe also had better overall survival than patients treated with chemoradiation alone.
Travis-Riley K. Korenaga, MD, of University of California, San Francisco, presented these findings at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
To examine the use of brachytherapy, Dr. Korenaga and his colleagues analyzed patients from the U.S. National Cancer Database who had stage II-IVA cervical cancer and were diagnosed between 2004 and 2015.
The researchers identified 18,592 patients who received at least 4,500 cGy of external beam radiation therapy and concurrent chemotherapy as their primary treatment. In this group, there were 17,150 patients who had data on brachytherapy use and time to treatment completion.
A majority of patients (n = 13,642) received brachytherapy, and roughly half of those (n = 6,871) received it within the recommended 8 weeks.
“This is a pretty low rate of adherence to standard of care; 36.9% of women receive brachytherapy and complete it within that 8-week timeframe,” Dr. Korenaga said. “And that 36.9% of women do have a superior overall survival that blows everything else out of the water.”
The median overall survival was:
- 113.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 103.3-121.3) in patients who received brachytherapy within 8 weeks
- 75.7 months (95% CI, 69.7-82.4) in those who received brachytherapy for more than 8 weeks
- 58.5 months (95% CI, 48.3-74.2) in patients who received only chemoradiation within 8 weeks
- 46.2 months (95% CI, 39.8-56.4) in those who received only chemoradiation for more than 8 weeks.
“Getting some type of brachytherapy, no matter whether it’s within 8 weeks or beyond 8 weeks, is still associated with an improved overall survival,” Dr. Korenaga noted.
He and his colleagues also identified factors that were significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of receiving brachytherapy within 8 weeks, including:
- Having stage III/IVA disease vs. stage II disease (P less than .0001)
- Being non-Hispanic black vs. non-Hispanic white (P less than .001)
- Having an annual income below $38,000 vs. $63,000 or higher (P less than .0001)
- Having public vs. private insurance (P less than .0001)
- Living 10 to 60 miles (P = .01) or more than 100 miles (P less than .001) from the treatment facility vs. less than 10 miles
- Being treated at a facility with a community cancer program (P = .02) or a comprehensive community cancer program (P less than .0001) vs. an academic research program.
Dr. Korenaga said these results highlight the fact that more work needs to be done to increase the use of brachytherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer.
He and his colleagues have suggested a few measures that might help, including early referrals for brachytherapy, connecting patients with care navigators, and developing centers of excellence for brachytherapy.
Dr. Korenaga had no relevant financial disclosures.
SOURCE: Korenaga TRK et al. SGO 2019. Abstract 10.
, according to a retrospective study.
Researchers found that patients who received brachytherapy in addition to chemotherapy and external beam radiation therapy had better overall survival than patients who received chemoradiation alone.
Although the best overall survival was observed in patients who received brachytherapy within the recommended 8 weeks, patients who received brachytherapy outside that timeframe also had better overall survival than patients treated with chemoradiation alone.
Travis-Riley K. Korenaga, MD, of University of California, San Francisco, presented these findings at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
To examine the use of brachytherapy, Dr. Korenaga and his colleagues analyzed patients from the U.S. National Cancer Database who had stage II-IVA cervical cancer and were diagnosed between 2004 and 2015.
The researchers identified 18,592 patients who received at least 4,500 cGy of external beam radiation therapy and concurrent chemotherapy as their primary treatment. In this group, there were 17,150 patients who had data on brachytherapy use and time to treatment completion.
A majority of patients (n = 13,642) received brachytherapy, and roughly half of those (n = 6,871) received it within the recommended 8 weeks.
“This is a pretty low rate of adherence to standard of care; 36.9% of women receive brachytherapy and complete it within that 8-week timeframe,” Dr. Korenaga said. “And that 36.9% of women do have a superior overall survival that blows everything else out of the water.”
The median overall survival was:
- 113.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 103.3-121.3) in patients who received brachytherapy within 8 weeks
- 75.7 months (95% CI, 69.7-82.4) in those who received brachytherapy for more than 8 weeks
- 58.5 months (95% CI, 48.3-74.2) in patients who received only chemoradiation within 8 weeks
- 46.2 months (95% CI, 39.8-56.4) in those who received only chemoradiation for more than 8 weeks.
“Getting some type of brachytherapy, no matter whether it’s within 8 weeks or beyond 8 weeks, is still associated with an improved overall survival,” Dr. Korenaga noted.
He and his colleagues also identified factors that were significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of receiving brachytherapy within 8 weeks, including:
- Having stage III/IVA disease vs. stage II disease (P less than .0001)
- Being non-Hispanic black vs. non-Hispanic white (P less than .001)
- Having an annual income below $38,000 vs. $63,000 or higher (P less than .0001)
- Having public vs. private insurance (P less than .0001)
- Living 10 to 60 miles (P = .01) or more than 100 miles (P less than .001) from the treatment facility vs. less than 10 miles
- Being treated at a facility with a community cancer program (P = .02) or a comprehensive community cancer program (P less than .0001) vs. an academic research program.
Dr. Korenaga said these results highlight the fact that more work needs to be done to increase the use of brachytherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer.
He and his colleagues have suggested a few measures that might help, including early referrals for brachytherapy, connecting patients with care navigators, and developing centers of excellence for brachytherapy.
Dr. Korenaga had no relevant financial disclosures.
SOURCE: Korenaga TRK et al. SGO 2019. Abstract 10.
REPORTING FROM SGO 2019
