Salvage Stereotactic Body Radiosurgery in the Management of Recurrent Gynecological Cancer

Local tumor persistence in the pelvis is the major cause of death in patients with recurrent gynecological cancer. Pelvic exenteration has been the only treatment option providing a chance for cure in selected patients. The aim of this study is to analyze the efficacy of stereotactic body radiosurgery (SBRS) in patients with recurrent gynecological cancer. Sixteen patients treated with SBRS were analyzed retrospectively. The majority of the patients had cervical cancer. Eleven patients had a history of prior radiotherapy either as postoperative adjuvant external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with a median dose of 50.4 Gy (range 45-60 Gy) or definitive chemoradiotherapy as EBRT and high dose rate brachytherapy with a dose of 85-90 Gy low dose rate equivalent to point A. The prescribed dose of SBRS was 15-40 Gy (mean 26.6 Gy) in 3-5 fractions. Five patients with no prior radiotherapy received additional EBRT before SBRS. The median follow-up in all patients is 12 months (range 3-36 months). Six patients (37.5%) showed complete radiological and functional response to salvage SBRS. Six patients (37.5%) showed partial response and 2 (12.5%) showed stable disease. One and 2 year overall survival rates are 60.3% and 40.2% respectively. Progression free survival is 59%. All patients with complete response after SBRS are alive with no evidence of disease with a median follow up time of 20 months. SBRS is a promising treatment modality with high local control and reasonable complication rates in selected patients with recurrent gynecological cancer.