A late-stage trial of women with cervical cancer at low risk of progression found that having a simple hysterectomy instead of a radical hysterectomy resulted in similar outcomes in terms of keeping them cancer-free, a finding that some doctors say could be “practice-changing.” The results of the trial, presented Friday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago, also showed that patients with the simpler surgery had fewer complications and a better quality of life.
Women were randomized to receive a radical hysterectomy as a control group or a simple hysterectomy in the experimental group, and the researchers followed up for three years. The results in the two groups were “actually quite comparable,” Plante said. The radical hysterectomy group had three times more bladder injuries, nearly twice as many urethral injuries and statistically more adverse events within about four weeks.