Natural history and outcome of neuroendocrine carcinoma of the cervix

Abstract

ObjectiveNeuroendocrine carcinomas of the cervix (NECC) are rare and thought to be aggressive. We performed a population-based analysis to examine the natural history, treatment patterns and outcomes of women with NECC compared to squamous cell carcinoma (SCCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) of the cervix. MethodsThe National Cancer Database (NCDB) was utilized to identify women with NECC, SCCC, and AC treated from 1998 to 2011. Clinical, demographic, and treatment characteristics were compared between the groups. The association between tumor histology and survival was examined using Kaplan-Meier analyses and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models. ResultsWe identified 127,332 patients, including 1,896 (1.5%) with NECC and 101,240 (79.5%) with SCCC and 24,196 (19.0%) with AC. Patients with NECC were younger, more often white, commercially insured, and diagnosed with metastatic disease at presentation compared to women with SCCC. Patients with early-stage NECC were more likely to receive adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation after surgery (P<0.05 for both). In multivariable models stratified by stage and adjusted for clinical and demographic characteristics, the risk of death was higher for patients with NECC compared to SCCC for all stages of disease: stages IB–IIA (HR=2.96; 95% CI, 2.48–3.52), stages IIB–IVA (HR=1.70; 95% CI, 1.45–1.99) and stage IVB (HR=1.14; 95% CI, 0.91–1.43). ConclusionNECC are aggressive tumors associated with an increased risk of death. Survival is inferior for NECC compared to squamous cell tumors for women with both early and advanced stage disease.