Patterns of pretreatment diagnostic assessment and staging for patients with cervical cancer (1999-2001): patterns of care study in Japan

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the patterns of pretreatment diagnostic assessment in uterine cervical cancer patients treated with definitive radiotherapy in Japan. METHODS: The Japanese Patterns of Care Study working group conducted a second extramural audit survey of 68 institutions and collected specific information on 631 patients with cervical cancer. All patients were treated with radiotherapy in 1999-2001. Of these, 324 patients treated without surgery were the subjects of this study. RESULTS: International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics-prescribed diagnostic procedures were performed at moderate rates in our study cohort. The performance rates of chest X-ray, intravenous urography, cystoscopy, and proctoscopy were 74, 54, 53, and 33%, respectively. Cross sectional imaging studies were frequently performed. Pelvic CT, abdominal CT, and pelvic MRI were performed in 88, 80, and 76%, respectively. Lymphangiography (1%) and surgical evaluation (1%) were rarely done. Only one patient underwent PET scans in this survey period. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the patterns of pretreatment diagnostic assessment in cervical cancer patients treated with definitive radiotherapy in Japan.