PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Surbhi Grover AU - Matthew S Ning AU - Michelle Bale AU - Katie E Lichter AU - Sidrah Shah AU - Memory Bvochora-Nsingo AU - Sebathu Chiyapo AU - Dawn Balang AU - Gwendolyn J McGinnis AU - Tlotlo Ralefala AU - Thabo Moloi AU - Rebecca Luckett AU - Doreen Ramogola-Masire AU - Erle S Robertson AU - Nicola M Zetola TI - Chemoradiation versus radiation alone in stage IIIB cervical cancer patients with or without human immunodeficiency virus AID - 10.1136/ijgc-2021-002601 DP - 2021 Sep 01 TA - International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer PG - 1220--1227 VI - 31 IP - 9 4099 - http://ijgc.bmj.com/content/31/9/1220.short 4100 - http://ijgc.bmj.com/content/31/9/1220.full SO - Int J Gynecol Cancer2021 Sep 01; 31 AB - Objective Cervical cancer remains the most common cancer among women in sub-Saharan Africa and is also a leading cause of cancer related deaths among these women. The benefit of chemoradiation in comparison with radiation alone for patients with stage IIIB disease has not been evaluated prospectively in women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We assessed the survival of chemoradiation versus radiation alone among stage IIIB cervical cancer patients based on HIV status.Methods Between February 2013 and June 2018, patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2009 stage IIIB cervical cancer with or without HIV and treated with chemoradiation or radiation alone, were prospectively enrolled in an observational cohort study. Overall survival was evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to analyze associations with survival.Results Among 187 patients, 63% (n=118) of women had co-infection with HIV, and 48% (n=69) received chemoradiation. Regardless of HIV status, patients who received chemoradiation had improved 2 year overall survival compared with those receiving radiation alone (59% vs 41%, p<0.01), even among women living with HIV (60% vs 38%, p=0.02). On multivariable Cox regression analysis, including all patients regardless of HIV status, 2 year overall survival was associated with receipt of chemoradiation (hazard ratio (HR) 0.63, p=0.04) and total radiation dose ≥80 Gy (HR 0.57, p=0.02). Among patients who received an adequate radiation dose of ≥80 Gy, adjusted overall survival rates were similar between chemoradiation versus radiation alone groups (HR 1.07; p=0.90). However, patients who received an inadequate radiation dose of <80 Gy, adjusted survival was significantly higher in chemoradiation versus radiation alone group (HR 0.45, p=0.01).Conclusions Addition of chemotherapy to standard radiation improved overall survival, regardless of HIV status, and is even more essential in women who cannot receive full doses of radiation.Data are available upon reasonable request. The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, SG. The data are not publicly available due to restrictions (eg, the data contain information that could compromise the privacy of research participants).