Prognostic factors and treatment outcomes of patients with uterine sarcoma: analysis of 127 patients at a single institution, 1989–2007

Uterine sarcoma is a rare malignancy with the worst prognosis of all uterine cancers. This study evaluated the prognostic factors and treatment outcomes of patients with this disease.

A retrospective analysis was performed on 127 patients with histologically verified uterine sarcoma who were treated and followed at the Asan Medical Center (Seoul, Korea) from 1989 to 2007.

Histological analyses revealed that 37 patients had endometrial stromal sarcoma, 44 had malignant mixed mullerian tumors and 46 had leiomyosarcoma. Surgical stages, as defined by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) system, were I in 82 patients, II in 6 patients, III in 18 patients and IV in 19 patients. All patients underwent surgical treatment and 72 patients received adjuvant therapy. The 10-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 30% and the 10-year overall survival (OS) rate was 48%, with a mean follow-up time of 38 months (ranging from 1 to 212 months). Adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy had limited impact on the outcome of early-stage disease. However, patients with advanced-stage disease who received adjuvant chemotherapy had significantly longer OS times. A multivariate analysis revealed that FIGO stage (P = 0.025), depth of myometrial invasion (P = 0.004), and complete cytoreduction (P = 0.030) were significantly associated with DFS, while menopausal status (P = 0.044), FIGO stage (P = 0.016), depth of myometrial invasion (P = 0.029), and lymph-vascular space invasion (LVSI) (P = 0.020) were significantly associated with OS.

This study suggests that complete cytoreduction is important and adjuvant chemotherapy can help achieve favorable prognoses in patients with advanced stage disease. However, postmenopausal status, advanced FIGO stage, deep myometrial invasion, and positive LVSI were associated with poor prognosis.