Investigators disagree about the role of adjuvant hysterectomy after irradiation of bulky stage IB cervical carcinomas, although the benefit of combined treatment has never been clearly demonstrated. Studies that have correlated outcome with initial tumor diameter suggest that central recurrences are rare after irradiation of tumors less than 5 cm in diameter, leaving little room for improvement with additional local treatment. Early studies suggested that adjuvant hysterectomy may improve pelvic disease control for patients with bulky endocervical tumors, but these results may have reflected the selection of tumors with relatively favorable characteristics for combined treatment. Several studies have suggested that central pelvic disease can be controlled in more than 90% of patients with bulky endocervical tumors if they are treated with adequate doses of irradiation. Although published studies are somewhat limited by their retrospective designs, the available data do not support the added cost and morbidity of adjuvant hysterectomy in the routine treatment of patients with bulky early stage cervical carcinomas.