Dr. Ferguson on the Impact of the LACC Trial Data on Cervical Cancer Surgery

Sarah Ferguson, MD, FRCSC, associate professor of gynecologic oncology, University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, discusses how the results from the LACC trial, which compared minimally invasive surgery with open surgery in patients with IA1, IA2, or IB1 cervical cancer, are impacting surgery in the cervical cancer field.

In a study presented at the 2019 SGO Annual Meeting, there was no clear difference in smaller, microscopic tumor samples between patients who received minimally invasive surgery and those who received a traditional open procedure, explains Ferguson. The disease-free survival at 4.5 years among patients who underwent minimally invasive surgery was 86.0% versus 96.5% with the traditional method. These data also showed that the quality of life for patients who received minimally invasive surgery versus open surgery were similar, according to Ferguson.

Surgeons in the cervical cancer community are absorbing the results of the trial and making changes to their practice, says Ferguson. This trial changed the preconceived idea that minimally invasive is superior and reinforced the need for randomized trials, concludes Ferguson.