Long-Term Follow-Up Outcomes of Cervical Cancer Patients: A Single Center Experience from the East Anatolian Region of Turkey

Abstract

Objective: Cervical cancer (CC) is the 4th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in women all over the world. The most important etiologic cause is HPV, and this allows tumor to have high chance of curing with early diagnosis by screening programs. However, information about long-term survival data of CC is limited in our country. In our study; we wanted to reveal the survival times of our patients with CC and the factors that predict these times.Material and methods: Seventy-three patients with CC, followed between 2000 and 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. Associations between clinical and histopathological parameters with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed using Kaplan- Meier curves and compared by the log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to assess their prognostic values for PFS and OS.Results: The median age of the patients was 56 years. The most common histological subtype was squamous cell carcinoma (79.5%) followed by adenocarcinoma (16.4%).According to FIGO staging system, 31 (43.8%) of the patients were diagnosed as stage 1-2 and 42 (56.2%) were as stage 3-4.The median PFS and OS are 44 months and 78 months. The 5-year survival rate is 37.5% (12%-75%). Although there was no difference in length of life between histological subtypes, both PFS and OS were longer in patients with good ECOG performance score (0-1), early FIGO stage (1-2), tumor size <4 cm, and without parametrial and lymph node involvement. Multivariate analysis showed that ECOG performance score, parametrial involvement and lymph node involvement were independent prognostic factors for PFS and OS. Conclusion: The stage at time of diagnosis of CC patients in our region is more advanced and their 5-year survival rates are below the world average, so our women need to be better informed about this subject.