Current management of cervical cancer in Poland-Analysis of the questionnaire trial for the years 2002-2014 in relation to ASCO 2016 recommendations

Management for Cervical Cancer Patients: A Comparison of the Guidelines from the International Scientific Societies (ESGO-NCCN-ASCO-AIOM-FIGO-BGCS-SEOM-ESMO-JSGO)

Cervical cancer continues to have a significant incidence, despite global efforts in HPV vaccination campaigns. Managing this condition involves a diverse team of healthcare professionals. Research in this field is undergoing a period of great revolution in multiple areas, and international guidelines will soon have to adapt to new scientific evidence. This could be true mainly in locally advanced stages, and it could also be true for minimal invasive surgery. This paper aims to summarize and compare the most recent recommendations published by international gynecological oncological societies for patients with cervical cancer. From their comparison, common aspects and disagreements emerged, especially in the diagnostic pathway and follow-up strategies. Several issues that remain to be debated in the literature were addressed and compared, highlighting similarities and differences, from the role of the sentinel lymph node in early stages to that of the adjuvant hysterectomy in locally advanced tumors. On the surgical side, for this last subset of patients, currently, a laparotomic approach is recommended. At the same time, the advent of immunotherapy has just opened up new and promising scenarios in systemic treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer, and international guidelines will soon introduce it into their algorithms.

Cervical Cancer Prevention in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background and Objectives: Cervical cancer (CC) is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality among women worldwide. CC prevention is based on screening and HPV vaccination. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused difficulties in implementing CC-preventative measures. The aim of this study was to collect data on the implementation of CC prophylaxis in Poland provided by public and private health care with a particular focus on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and attempt to estimate the level of CC-screening implementation by 2026 under public and private health care. Materials and Methods: Data on the implementation of privately funded (2016–2021) and publicly funded (2014–2021) CC-preventative measures in Poland were examined. The Prophet algorithm, which positions itself as an automatic forecasting procedure and represents a local Bayesian structural time-series model, was used to predict data. The correlation test statistic was based on Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient and follows a t distribution. An asymptotic confidence interval was given based on Fisher’s Z transform. Results: In 2021, a significantly higher population screening coverage was observed in private health care (71.91%) than in the public system (12.6%). Our estimation assumes that the adverse downward trend of population coverage (pap smear CC screening) in the public system will continue to 5.02% and in the private health system to 67.92% in 2026. Correlation analysis showed that with the increase in the sum of HPV tests and LBC, the percentage of Pap smear coverage in the private healthcare sector decreases r = −0.62, p = 0.260 df = 3, CI = [−0.97, 0.57]. The amount of HPV vaccinations provided in private health care is steadily increasing. Immunization coverage of the population of girls aged 9–18 years under private health care at the end of the observation period was 4.3% (2021). Conclusions: It is necessary to reorganize the public CC-screening system in Poland based on a uniform reporting system for tests performed in both public and private health care using the model of action proposed by us. We recommend the introduction of a national free HPV vaccination program funded by the government and implemented in public and private health care facilities.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Chemoradiation and Radiotherapy Treatment for Stage IIB and IIIB Cervical Cancer Patients

Purpose

Cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer and cause of death from cancer in Indonesia. In 2013, cervical cancer was the most prevalent cancer in Indonesia, with a rate of 0.8 per 1000 women. Based on the National Guidelines for Cervical Cancer Medical Services in Indonesia, the recommended therapy for stages IIB-IIIB cervical cancer is chemoradiation or radiotherapy. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of chemoradiation and radiotherapy for treating stage IIB-IIIB cervical cancer in a national referral hospital in Indonesia.

Patients and Methods

A cross-sectional study from a healthcare perspective using retrospective patient data was conducted. The included patients had stage IIB-IIIB registered cervical cancer, were in the hospital between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017, received chemoradiation or radiotherapy, were ≥18 years old, and had complete clinical data and detailed cost of therapy data. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) were calculated, and a sensitivity analysis was performed.

Results

The average treatment cost per patient was $2944 and $3231 for radiotherapy and chemoradiation, respectively. Despite the fact that the treatment effectiveness of chemoradiation (69.1%) was considered to be higher than that of radiotherapy (63.2%), chemoradiation had more potential side effects than radiotherapy. In a comparison with radiotherapy, the ICER of chemoradiation was $48.6 per complete response rate. Additionally, the cost of radiotherapy was the most influential parameter impacting the ICER.

Conclusion

Chemoradiation was considered to be more costly than radiotherapy. Additionally, the effectiveness of chemoradiation was higher than that of radiotherapy. A cost utility analysis (CUA) is required for further investigation.

Cervical cancer patterns of care in Italy: A radiation oncology survey of MITO and AIRO GYN groups

Large heterogeneity in therapeutic approaches to cervical cancer (CC) patients has been registered worldwide; a national survey exploring practice settings and equipments in CC treatment was distributed to radiation oncologists. Questionnaires were compiled in 90 of 194 Centers (compliance: 46.3 %). Most of respondents reported the presence of multidisciplinary tumor board, and modern equipments/techniques; 55.5 % of centers reported >1 brachytherapy (BT) equipment, thus implying the need to refer their patients outside for the remaining centers. Post-surgery radiotherapy was performed in 96.7 % of early CC (ECC) cases with pathological high risk factors. Exclusive chemoradiation with concomitant platinum schedules was referred to be used by 84.4 % of centers in locally advanced CC. Alternative options were reported with a range between 4.4 and 28.9 %. The present survey reports a broad spectrum of therapeutic options for CC in Italy. Availability and use of modern techniques is quite diffuse, but the distribution of BT resources and skills remains a challenge.