From 1960 to 1979 there were a total of 14 patients followed at the University of Pennsylvania with early cervical carcinoma who had histologically documented metastases to the para-aortic nodes and who were treated with extended-field radiotherapy. Thirteen of these patients were stage IB and one was stage IIA. All patients underwent exploratory laparotomy and lymph node dissection, followed by extended-field radiotherapy. Six patients are alive with NED for greater than 5 years; one patient is alive with NED at 3 years. An additional patient is now alive and well almost 3 years from a biopsy documented recurrence treated with chemotherapy, and 6 years from initial diagnosis. Thus 8 of 14 patients have enjoyed a long-term survival. Five patients experienced severe treatment-related morbidity. Two had long-term survival, two died of disease, and one died of radiation complications with NED on autopsy. Each of the six patients that died of disease had recurrences at distant sites. One also had a pelvic recurrence. These patients appear to have a prognosis quite different from that of patients with locally advanced cervical cancer metastatic to the para-aortic nodes and deserve aggressive treatment. The need for adjuvant systemic therapy is stressed.