['A close relationship exists between immune response and tumor behavior. This study aimed to explore the associations between radiation-induced apoptosis (RIA) in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and clinical pathological variables. Furthermore, it assessed the role of RIA as a prognostic factor for survival in cervical carcinoma patients.', 'Between February 1998 and October 2003, 58\xa0consecutive patients with nonmetastatic, localized stage I-II cervical carcinoma who had been treated with radiotherapy (RT)\xa0±\xa0chemotherapy were included in this study. Follow-up ended in January 2013. PBL subpopulations were isolated and irradiated with 0, 1, 2 and 8\xa0Gy then incubated for 24, 48 and 72\xa0h. Apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry and the β\xa0value, a parameter defining RIA of lymphocytes, was calculated.', 'Mean follow-up duration was 111.92\u2009±\u200940.31\xa0months. Patients with lower CD8 T\xa0lymphocyte β\xa0values were at a higher risk of local relapse: Exp(B)\xa0=\u20095.137, confidence interval (CI)\xa095\u2009%\u2009=\u20091.044-25.268, p\u2009=\u20090.044. Similar results were observed for regional relapse: Exp(B)\xa0=\u20098.008, CI\xa095\u2009%\u2009=\u20091.702-37.679, p\u2009=\u20090.008 and disease relapse: Exp(B)\xa0=\u20096.766, CI 95\u2009%\u2009=\u20091.889-24.238, p\u2009=\u20090.003. In multivariate analysis, only the CD8 T\xa0lymphocyte β\xa0values were found to be of prognostic significance for local disease-free survival (LDFS, p\u2009=\u20090.049), regional disease-free survival (RDFS, p\u2009=\u20090.002), metastasis-free survival (MFS, p\u2009=\u20090.042), disease-free survival (DFS, p\u2009=\u20090.001) and cause-specific survival (CSS p\u2009=\u20090.028).'] Is radio-induced apoptosis of peripheral blood CD8 T lymphocytes a novel prognostic factor for survival in cervical carcinoma patients?