Abstract:
Purpose
To evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of cisplatinum for palliative treatment of advanced
cervical cancer in a resource-poor setting.
Methods
An observational case series is reported from a university teaching hospital in Kenya. All women
presenting with advanced cervical cancer and planned for palliative cisplatinum therapy from 2010 to
2014 were included. Women were treated with cisplatinum 50 mg/m
2
every 4 weeks in an outpatient
setting.Dataontumorstageandsymptomscontrolwereprospectivelycollectedinanelectronicdatabase.
The main outcome measure was control of symptoms such as bleeding, discharge, and pain.
Results
Of the women who originally presented with bleeding, 62% reported improvement in this symptom,
31.3% reported the bleeding completely stopped, 58% had improvement of their vaginal discharge, and
20.5% reported complete resolution. Of the women who presented with pain, 54% reported improvement;
30.9% reported pain had completely resolved. After each treatment cycle, approximately 30% of patients
did not return for their next treatment.
Conclusion
Cisplatinum as palliative treatment of advanced cervical cancer is feasible in a resource-poor
setting and leads to effective symptom control. However, unknown barriers may inhibit women from
returning for regular treatment
