Molecular biomarkers in the decision of treatment of cervical carcinoma patients

Abstract

Cervical carcinoma is the third most common cancer in women worldwide. The programs developed for early detection have made that most patients are diagnosed in early stages. Treatment for those patients consists of conservative techniques as surgery or radical radiotherapy; however, the decision between those two therapies is still controversial. Even though in many cases this decision varies according to classical associated risk factors (i.e. tumor stage or age), in the clinical practice, a significant number of patients treated by surgery also receive post-surgery radiotherapy, with the consequent over-treatment and toxic effects. Since response to treatments is conditioned by individual factors, the use of new biological markers as novel predictive factors for both tumor and normal tissues could help clinicians to choose the best treatment schedule for each patient individually. Based on the experience of our institution, we have reviewed the new biological markers in cervical carcinoma patients treated by radiotherapy.