Transcatheter arterial infusion therapy combined with radical hysterectomy in the treatment of advanced cervical cancer.

Two or three sessions of transcatheter arterial infusion (TAI) therapy were performed preoperatively in 13 patients with advanced cervical cancer (stage 3 or more). The efficacy of TAI was evaluated by tumor markers, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and postoperative histopathological examination. In all cases, tumor marker levels decreased after TAI therapy, and MRI also showed a decrease in the tumor size in 11/12 patients. The tumor tissue resected at radical hysterectomy showed no viable cancer cells in 6 patients, and no viable extrauterine cancer was detected in 5 more patients. Thus, TAI performed via both internal iliac arteries reduced both tumor size and extension to the parametrium, and it appears to have the potential to be an effective treatment modality for advanced cervical cancer.