A simple tweak to cancer treatment reduces mortality risk by ‘remarkable’ 40 per cent – now experts call for full NHS rollout
A large study shows that cervical cancer survival can be increased by 40 percent with a new treatment regimen of existing medications.
Giving a boost to chemotherapy before standard treatment can also reduce the risk of the disease returning by more than a third.
Researchers from University College London (UCL) say the ‘remarkable’ findings mean this should become the standard treatment for the disease.
A combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy – known as chemoradiation – has been the standard treatment for cervical cancer since 1999.
But despite improvements in care, the cancer – which typically affects women in their 30s – returns in as many as 30 percent of cases.
Big Brother star Jade Goody died in 2009, a year after her cervical cancer diagnosis – the mother-of-two was just 27 years old. After her death, the number of women attending a cervical screening, also known as a pap smear, increased by about 500,000. This was called ‘the Jade Goody effect’. The number of visitors to screenings has fallen again
Oscar-winning actor Olivia Colman appeared in a recent film for Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, raising awareness of the condition which affects more than 3,000 British women every year
Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer, but statistics show that one in three women does not accept the invitation for screening
The study, funded by Cancer Research UK and the UCL Cancer Trials Centre, looked at whether a short course of induction chemotherapy before chemoradiation could reduce relapses and death in patients with cervical cancer that had not spread to other organs.
They recruited 500 patients over ten years from hospitals in Britain, Mexico, India, Italy and Brazil.
Patients were randomly assigned to the standard treatment or the new treatment combination.
The new treatment program led to a 40 percent reduction in the risk of death and a 35 percent reduction in the risk of cancer recurrence for at least five years.
The results, published in The Lancet, are so clear that experts are calling for the regime to be used in the UK and internationally.
Dr. Mary McCormack, lead researcher on the study from UCL Cancer Institute and UCLH, said: ‘This approach is a simple way to make a positive difference, using existing medicines that are cheap and already approved for use in patients.
‘It has already been adopted by some cancer centers and there is no reason this should not be offered to all patients undergoing chemoradiation for this cancer.’
After five years, 80 percent of those who first received a short course of chemotherapy were still alive and 73 percent had not seen the cancer return or spread.
Michelle Keegan (pictured), Louise Rednapp and Nadia Sawalha have also appeared in cervical cancer screening campaigns
Symptoms of cervical cancer to look out for include unusual vaginal bleeding, pain during sex, and pain in the lower back or pelvis
NHS Cervical Screening data, going back to 2011, shows that uptake was highest that year (75.7 percent) and has fallen over time
In the standard treatment group, 72 percent were still alive and 64 percent had not seen the cancer return or spread.
Researchers said five patients involved in the trial have been disease-free for more than a decade.
Dr. Iain Foulkes, executive director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, said: ‘Timing is everything when treating cancer.
‘The simple act of adding induction chemotherapy to the start of chemoradiation treatment for cervical cancer has produced remarkable results in the Interlace study.
‘A growing body of evidence shows that additional chemotherapy before other treatments, such as surgery and radiotherapy, can increase patients’ chances of successful treatment.
‘Not only can it reduce the chance of cancer coming back, it can also be delivered quickly, using medicines already available worldwide.’
Every year in England, around 2,700 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 850 die from it.
The NHS wants to eradicate cervical cancer by 2040 by boosting screening and the HPV vaccine, which protects against the virus that causes almost all cases.
Cervical screening, once called a Pap smear, is a test to check the health of the cervix and help prevent cervical cancer – offered to women aged 25 to 64.
The most recent figures show this to be correct 66 percent of the 11 million eligible women aged 25 to 49 attended the screening, compared to 74 percent among women aged 50 to 64.