A retrospective review of 194 patients with stage IB cervical carcinoma treated with radical hysterectomy between January 1977 and December 1984 revealed 30 patients (15%) with pelvic node metastases. Twenty patients with pelvic node metastases received postoperative radiotherapy and ten patients did not. Five of 20 patients who received adjuvant radiotherapy had recurrence, compared with five of ten patients who did not receive radiotherapy. No pelvic recurrences occurred in the adjuvant radiotherapy group compared with two in the no radiotherapy group. Only one serious complication occurred in a patient receiving radiotherapy. Adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy may reduce pelvic recurrences and improve survival in patients with pelvic node metastases treated with radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy.