Does adjuvant chemotherapy improve survival for women with early-stage uterine leiomyosarcoma?

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

To examine whether adjuvant therapy after primary surgery for treatment of early-stage uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS) improves recurrence and survival rates.

METHODS:

A multisite, retrospective study of women diagnosed with stage I-II high grade LMS from 1990-2010 was performed. All patients (pts) underwent primary surgery followed by observation (OBS), radiotherapy (RT), or chemotherapy (CT) postoperatively.

RESULTS:

One hundred eight patients were identified with long-term follow-up; 94 pts (87.0%) had stage I and 14 (13.0%) had stage II disease. The mean patient age was 55.4 years and mean BMI was 28.0. Thirty-four (31.5%) patients underwent OBS, 35 (32.4%) received RT, and 39 (36.1%) received chemotherapy. After a median follow-up of 41.8 months, a recurrence was diagnosed in 70.8%. Recurrence was evident in 25/34 (73.5%) OBS, 23/35 (65.7%) RT, and 28/39 (71.8%) of CT cohorts and was not different based on treatment (p=0.413). However, extra-pelvic recurrences were significantly higher in the RT (95.2%) than in the OBS (60%) or CT (64.3%) cohorts (p=0.012). Additionally, recurrences were more likely to be successfully treated or palliated in those who initially received CT (p=0.031). On multivariate analysis, stage (p<0.001) and chemotherapy (p=0.045) were associated with overall survival.

CONCLUSIONS:

Women with early-stage, high grade uterine LMS experience high recurrence rates and poor survival outcomes, irrespective of adjuvant therapy. These rates are higher than previously reported in the literature. Although women treated with CT had similar recurrence rates as those treated with OBS or RT, treatment with adjuvant chemotherapy may decrease the risk of extra-pelvic recurrence and improve survival.

• Authors: Stephanie Ricci, Robert L Giuntoli 2nd, Eric Eisenhauer, Micael A Lopez, Lauren Krill, Edward J Tanner 3rd, Paola A Gehrig, Laura J Havrilesky, Angeles Alvarez Secord, Kimberly Levinson, Heidi Frasure, Paul Celano, Amanda Nickles Fader
• Journal: Gynecologic oncology (Gynecol Oncol) Vol. 131 Issue 3 Pg. 629-33 (Dec 2013) ISSN: 1095-6859 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 24016408 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Multicenter Study)
• Copyright: © 2013.

Chemical References

• Taxoids
• Deoxycytidine
• Docetaxel
• Gemcitabine

Topics

• Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols (therapeutic use)
• Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
• Deoxycytidine (administration & dosage, analogs & derivatives)
• Docetaxel
• Female
• Humans
• Leiomyosarcoma (drug therapy, pathology, radiotherapy, surgery)
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasm Grading
• Neoplasm Recurrence, Local (pathology)
• Neoplasm Staging
• Radiotherapy, Adjuvant
• Retrospective Studies
• Taxoids (administration & dosage)
• Uterine Neoplasms (drug therapy, pathology, radiotherapy, surgery)
• Gemcitabine