women aged 35-70 years with all of the following criteria: untreated, histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix FIGO stage IB2 or bulky IIA, with tumor extension limited to within the upper one third of the vaginal wall. Bulky tumor is defined as (a) a visible cervical tumor with the largest diameter >4 cm or (b) a cervix expanded to > 4 cm as a result of tumor infiltration by pelvic examination and verified by magnetic resonance image (MRI), 3-dimensional (D) computed tomography (CT), or 3-D ultrasound study no suspicious lymph node metastasis as no enlarged lymph node or extrapelvic spread of cancer detected by MRI, or negative cytologic or histologic study of the suspicious node(s) (for those also participating PET-CT monitoring response trial, only abnormal FDG uptake in pelvic node(s) without proven nodal or extrapelvic metastasis are eligible)