Four hundred fifteen patients with early-stage cervical carcinoma were explored via a transperitoneal approach for radical hysterectomy at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania between January 1, 1960, and December 31, 1985. Twenty-four of these patients were found to have histologic documentation of para-aortic lymph node metastases. Twenty-one patients (88%) were treated primarily with extended-field radiotherapy. Forty-eight percent of these patients have survived greater than 5 years from diagnosis. Six patients have been followed more than 10 years after initial treatment. All six are alive although one patient has recurrent disease that was diagnosed at 164 months. Patients with adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma had a survival significantly lower than that of those with squamous cell cancers (p = 0.022). Complications included one treatment-related death from multiple fistulas and sepsis, one vesicovaginal fistula, two enteric fistulas, and two small bowel obstructions. The major morbidity rate was 19%. Extended-field radiation is effective therapy for para-aortic nodal metastasis associated with early-stage squamous cell carcinomas of the cervix but carries a considerable morbidity rate. Other modalities such as combined chemotherapy and radiation may be necessary for adenocarcinoma.