A new treatment plan for cervical cancer has proven to reduce the risk of death by 40%, according to a Lancet study.

The researchers said that while most cervical cancer patients are under the age of 30, despite improvements in care, the cancer returns in 30% of cases.

The new system was tested on patients in the UK, Mexico, India, Italy and Brazil and studied for more than 10 years. This involves a short course of chemotherapy, then chemoradiation, which is a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which is the standard treatment for cervical cancer.

The research, conducted by scientists at University College London, reduced the risk of death from cervical cancer by 40% in a phase three clinical trial. This resulted in a 35% reduction in the risk of getting cancer again within five years.

With 6,60,000 new cases of cervical cancer and 3,50,000 deaths in 2022, researchers revealed that their short-term treatment plan could improve the survival of locally advanced cervical cancer patients.

Treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer is usually a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, but many patients still experience cancer spread and do not survive.

Researchers looked at whether starting chemotherapy before the usual treatment (chemoradiotherapy) could help patients live longer and prevent the cancer from getting worse.

The trial involved 500 women who were randomly allocated to receive the new treatment plan or usual chemoradiation treatment. At that time, none of the patients’ tumors had spread to other organs.

In the study, one group underwent a new treatment plan that included six weeks of carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy, followed by weekly cisplatin and brachytherapy combined with standard radiotherapy, known as chemoradiation.

However, the control group received only the usual chemoradiation treatment.

After five years, 80% of patients who received the initial short course of chemotherapy were still alive, and 72% had no cancer recurrence or spread. In the standard treatment group, 72% survived, and 64% did not have cancer return or spread.

The overall survival rate showed a 40% relative reduction in the risk of dying from cervical cancer.

“This short-course induction chemotherapy regimen followed within 7 days by chemoradiotherapy improves the survival of patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. It should now be considered a standard of care and should be used in the design of future trials.” “should be included that explore new agents to include in the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer,” the study authors wrote.