Neuroendocrine tumors of uterine cervix in Mexican women.

Abstract

e15569 Background: Neuroendocrine tumors of the uterine cervix are rare, aggressive, and carry a poor prognosis. Most are small cell (SCNEC) and large cell (LCNEC). The limited knowledge of this neoplasm is based on small series due to the rarity of the diagnosis.There is a lack of information about NEC in Latin America. We describe both demographic and clinical characteristic of Mexican patients; and their multidisciplinary management in a reference center. Methods: We studied retrospectively clinical and histopathological variables of 33 women treated at the National Cancer Institute of Mexico from 1991 to 2010 with NEC. Patients were allocated into groups according to staging (Group 1 FIGO stages IB1 and IB2; Group 2 IIA-IVA, and Group 3 IVB). Results: Mean age at diagnosis was 50 y.o.; mean tumour size was 4.9 cm. There were 59.4% SCNEC and 40.6% LCNEC. Stage at diagnosis: IB1 15% (n=5), IB2 3% (n=1), IIA 18.2% (n=6), IIB 27.3% (n=9), IIIA 6% (n=2), IVB 27.3% (n=9). Common sites of metastases were lung and liver. The most common presenting symptom was transvaginal bleeding. In Group 1, 6/7 patients received multimodal management with surgery, chemoradiotherapy and induction or adjuvant chemotherapy. In Group 2, 12/17 patients received three modalities, 3/17 received only 2, due to comorbidty. In Group 3, 8/9 received 2 modalities. Patients with one treatment modality were those with disease progression. Cisplatin was used concurrently with radiotherapy; paclitaxel and carboplatin or etoposide and cisplatin were used for either induction or adjuvant settings. Disease free survival in months was: 50.3 (group 1); 23.1 (group 2), and 3.5 (group 3). Overall survival was: 68.5, 46.3, and 17.2 months, respectively. Main sites of recurrence were pelvis, mediastinum, lung, liver, central nervous system, pancreas, adrenal gland, bone and soft tissue. Conclusions: TheNational Cancer Institute of Mexico offers multidisciplinary treatment emphasizing local control after systemic therapy in both early and locally advanced disease; providing the most favourable disease-free survival and overall survival described. To our knowledge, this is the first report of NEC in the Mexican population, where carcinoma of uterine cervix represents yet an important public health issue.