Adjuvant radiation therapy in uterine carcinosarcoma: A population-based analysis of patient demographic and clinical characteristics, patterns of care and outcomes

Gynecol Oncol. 2016 May;141(2):225-230. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2016.02.013. Epub 2016 Feb 16.

Abstract

Objective: To examine clinical and demographic characteristics of a population-based cohort of patients with uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS), to assess access to treatment and survival patterns.

Methods: Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database was queried for patients diagnosed in 1999-2010 and treated with surgery with or without adjuvant radiation therapy (aRT). The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival functions, and Cox proportional hazards regression - to analyze the effect of covariates on survival.

Results: 2342 patients were eligible. African Americans presented with more advanced AJCC stages than other races (35.4% vs. 29.1%; p<0.01). African Americans vs. others, and women diagnosed in 1999-2004 vs. in 2005-2010, received aRT at a similar rate: 36.5% vs. 39.9% (p=NS), and 39.5% vs. 38.9% (p=NS), respectively. There was a trend towards higher aRT utilization among patients younger than 65 vs. older (41.4% vs. 37.5%; p<0.06). We observed better overall and cause-specific survival in the aRT group: 42 vs. 22 (p<0.0001) and 57 vs. 28months (p<0.0001), respectively. Black race, diagnosis in 1999-2004, advanced stage and age≥65years carried a higher risk of UCS death.

Conclusions: We observed greater survival rate in the aRT group. African Americans were more likely to present with later stage disease and die of UCS than non-African Americans. Age and stage, but not race, influenced receipt of aRT. Patients treated more recently survived longer.

Keywords: Adjuvant radiation; African American; MMMT; Racial disparity; Survival; Uterine carcinosarcoma.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data
  • Carcinosarcoma / ethnology
  • Carcinosarcoma / mortality*
  • Carcinosarcoma / radiotherapy*
  • Carcinosarcoma / surgery
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Indians, North American / statistics & numerical data
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Middle Aged
  • Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander / statistics & numerical data
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Radiotherapy, Adjuvant
  • Registries
  • Retrospective Studies
  • SEER Program
  • Treatment Outcome
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Uterine Neoplasms / ethnology
  • Uterine Neoplasms / mortality*
  • Uterine Neoplasms / radiotherapy*
  • Uterine Neoplasms / surgery
  • White People / statistics & numerical data