Bleomycin, ifosfamide and cis-platin chemotherapy in recurrent and persistent cervical cancer, a prospective study.

Thirty patients with histologically proven recurrent or persistent squamous cell cervical carcinoma were treated with chemotherapy, consisting of a combination of bleomycin, ifosfamide and cis-platin (BIP). All patients were evaluable for response. An objective response was seen in nine of the 30 patients (30%): complete in two (6.7%) and partial in the other seven (23.3%). A total of 39 tumor sites was treated: five responses were observed in 26 irradiated areas (19%), whereas seven responses were observed in 13 nonirradiated areas (53.8%). Side-effects were mainly nausea, vomiting, alopecia, myelosupression, fever and impaired renal function. Encephalopathy was recorded in four patients (severe in one). No patient died from the toxic effects of chemotherapy. The results indicate that BIP is an active combination in recurrent and advanced cervical carcinoma, with acceptable toxicity; however, this combination failed to prove any superiority over other single or multi-drug treatments proposed in the last decade.