ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gynecological Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1654730
This article is part of the Research TopicCutting-Edge Strategies in Screening, Prevention, and Treatment in Gynaecologic OncologyView all 18 articles
Quality of life in cervical cancer survivors after nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy, conventional radical hysterectomy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy
Provisionally accepted
- 1China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
- 2Hainan General Hospital, Haikou, China
- 3Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China
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Background: Cervical cancer treatments, including radical hysterectomy and chemoradiotherapy, often lead to urinary, anorectal, and sexual dysfunctions. Nervesparing radical hysterectomy (NSRH) aims to reduce such complications, but evidence on long-term quality of life (QoL) remains limited. Objective: To compare QoL outcomes in cervical cancer survivors after NSRH, conventional radical hysterectomy (CRH), or concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCR). Methods: A cross-sectional study enrolled 427 patients (241 NSRH, 60 CRH, 126 CCR) aged ≤60 years with ≥6 months post-treatment follow-up. QoL was assessed using EORTC QLQ-C30/CX24, Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), and a selfreported questionnaire. Statistical analyses included ANOVA and chi-square tests. Results: Urinary symptoms occurred in 27.4% (NSRH), 40.0% (CRH), and 18.6% (CCR) (*p*=0.004). Anorectal symptoms were reported in 23.2% (NSRH), 25.0% (CRH), and 18.6% (CCR) (*p*=0.360). Among sexually active patients, FSFI total scores were higher in NSRH (23.8) vs. CRH (23.3) and CCR (21.6) (*p*=0.026). NSRH also showed superior sexual desire, arousal, and orgasm scores. QoL scores (EORTC QLQ-C30/CX24) indicated better outcomes in constipation (*p*=0.003), lymphedema (*p*<0.001), and sexual activity (*p*=0.027) for NSRH. Subgroup analysis confirmed NSRH alone had fewer complications than NSRH with adjuvant radiation. Conclusion: NSRH demonstrates significant advantages in preserving urinary, anorectal, and sexual functions, thereby improving QoL compared to CRH or CCR. It is a preferable option for early-stage cervical cancer, particularly in younger patients.
Keywords: Nerve-sparing, Quality of Life, Anorectal dysfunction, Sexual dysfunction, Urinary dysfunction
Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 15 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Wang, Wu and Tan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Wenhui Li, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
Xianjie Tan, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China
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