First-line palliative chemotherapy clinical benefit is a key determinant of survival in metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate whether obtaining a clinical benefit with first-line therapy in patients receiving palliative systemic therapy with a diagnosis of metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma (ULMS) provides a survival benefit and the factors that may predict first-line therapy response.
 Material and Method: This study was a retrospective observational single-center analysis conducted with patients diagnosed with metastatic ULMS. Patients who received palliative chemotherapy with an ECOG PS of 0 or 1 at the time of diagnosis of metastatic disease were included in the study. Main patient characteristics, first-line palliative treatment responses, progression-free survival, and overall survival (OS) were reviewed retrospectively. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine the independent predictive factors of first-line palliative treatment response and overall survival.
 Results: Of the 36 patients whose medical records were evaluated retrospectively, 24 patients who were eligible for the study were included in the study. Gemcitabine plus docetaxel combination chemotherapy was the most commonly used treatment protocol (n=12, 50%) for first-line palliative treatment. While a complete response as a first-line treatment response could not be achieved, clinical benefit (partial remission and stable disease) and progressive disease were observed in 15 (62%) and 9 (37.5%) patients, respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis failed to detect any independent predictive factors for the clinical benefit of first-line palliative therapy. Median (OS) was 19.7 (95% CI, 4.1-35.3) months for all patients (N=24). Median OS was 25.6 (95% CI, 21.0-30.2) months and 6.9 (95% CI, 1.7-12.2) months for patients with and without the clinical benefit of first-line palliative chemotherapy (p=0.004). Cox-regression analysis revealed that increasing age at diagnosis of metastatic disease (HR=0.929, 95% CI 0.870-0.992, p=0.027), pulmonary metastasectomy (HR=0.162, 95%CI 0.031-0.863, p=0.033), and presence of first-line palliative chemotherapy clinical benefit (HR=0.195, 95% CI 0.063-0.606, p=0.005) were independent predictive factors for a better OS.
 Conclusion: In metastatic ULMS, for which the survival benefit is not clear with palliative chemotherapy, prolonged survival can be obtained in patients with clinical benefit with first-line palliative chemotherapy. There is a need for new studies to determine the factors that will predict the clinical benefit of first-line palliative chemotherapy.