A trial of chemotherapy before chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer (INTERLACE)

This results so far show that it is better to have chemotherapy before chemoradiotherapy. This is for cervical cancer that has not spread but can’t be removed with surgery.

Results
A total of 500 people from 5 different countries took part in this trial. This included 380 people from the UK. They were put into 1 of 2 treatment groups:

• 250 had standard chemoradiotherapy
• 250 had chemotherapy followed by chemoradiotherapy

The team are looking at the number of people whose cancer has not grown, 5 years after joining the trial. The results so far show it is:

• 64 out of every 100 people (64%) who had standard chemoradiotherapy
• 73 out of every 100 people (73%) who had chemotherapy followed by chemoradiotherapy

7396-bar-chart.png

They are also looking at the number of people living, 5 years after joining the trial. The results so far show it is:

• 72 out of every 100 people (72%) who had standard chemoradiotherapy
• 80 out of every 100 people (80%) who had chemotherapy followed by chemoradiotherapy

7396-bar-chart-2.png

Side effects
Most people taking part had at least one side effect from treatment. Many of these were mild or didn’t last long. But some people had more severe side effects:

• just under 5 out of 10 people (48%) who had chemoradiotherapy
• just under 6 out of 10 people (59%) who had chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy.

The most common of these side effects in both groups were:

• diarrhoea
• extreme tiredness (fatigue)
• muscle weakness
• joint pain

In the chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy group, the most common side effect was a drop in white blood cells causing an increased risk of infection (neutropenia). 

We have more information about the side effects of:

• chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer
• cisplatin
• carboplatin and paclitaxel

Conclusion
The trial team concluded that it is better to have chemotherapy before chemoradiotherapy. They recommended that this becomes the new standard treatment for cervical cancer that hasn’t spread but can’t be removed with surgery.

More detailed information
There is more information about this research in the reference below. 

Please note, the information we link to here is not in plain English. It has been written for healthcare professionals and researchers.

LBA8 A randomised phase III trial of induction chemotherapy followed by chemoradiation compared with chemoradiation alone in locally advanced cervical cancer: The GCIG INTERLACE trial
M. McCormack and others
Annals of Oncology, 2023. Volume 34, supplement 2, S1276.

Where this information comes from    
We have based this summary on the information in the link above. As far as we are aware, the full results have not been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) or published in a medical journal yet. We have not analysed the data ourselves.