Study summary

A short course of chemo before chemoradiation kept more women cancer-free at 5 years

INTERLACE trial · 500 people, phase 3 · Published October 2024, The Lancet

What was tested

Six weeks of weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel before standard chemoradiation, against chemoradiation alone, for locally advanced cervical cancer.

What they found

• 5-year progression-free survival was 72% vs 64% (hazard ratio 0.65).
• Serious side effects were more common (59% vs 48%).

What it means

A cheap, widely available way to improve outcomes, using drugs available worldwide; trial patients had lower-risk disease than KEYNOTE-A18.