Impact of Treatment Strategies on Local Control and Survival in Uterine Carcinosarcomas in Turkey

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics, patterns of recurrenceand survival outcomes in patients with uterine carcinosarcomas treated in our institution. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>:Records of 26 patients diagnosed between 2007 and 2011 with uterine carcinosarcoma were retrospectivelyevaluated for demographic features, tumor characteristics, treatment regimens and patient outcomes in terms ofDFS and OS <br/><b>Results</b>: Median age was 61 (range 43-78). 10 patients (38%) had stage I disease at diagnosis, 3 (12%)had stage II, 4 (15%) had stage III and 9 (35%) had stage IV. Sixteen patients (62%) received chemotherapy withpaclitaxel and carboplatin for 6 cycles. One patient underwent radiotherapy. Median follow up was 17 months.Sixteen patients relapsed and 13 died during follow up. Considering recurrence, 5 out of 16 patients had lungmetastases, one had brain metastases and 9 had only intraabdominal recurrence. The 3 year DFS was 37% andthe 3 year OS was 30%. <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: Our data show that uterine carcinosarcomas tend to be at advanced stageat diagnosis and despite the use of chemotherapy, overall prognosis is poor. Surgery remains the mainstay oftreatment. More effective adjuvant strategies are needed to reduce relapse and death rates.