Prognostic factors, oncological treatment and outcomes of uterine sarcoma: 10 years’ clinical experience from a tertiary care center in Pakistan

Abstract

BackgroundUterine sarcoma is an uncommon aggressive malignancy. Optimal management and prognostic factors have yet to be well recognized due to their rarity and various histological subtypes. This study aims to investigate these patients' prognostic factors, treatment modalities, and oncological outcomes.MethodsA single-center retrospective cohort study was conducted on all patients diagnosed with uterine sarcoma and treated from January 2010 to December 2019 in a tertiary-care hospital in Pakistan. The data were analyzed using STATA software and stratified on the histological subtype. Survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Crude and adjusted hazard ratios with 95% CI were estimated using univariate and multivariate analysis.ResultsOf the 40 patients, 16(40%) had uterine leiomyosarcoma (u-LMS), 10(25%) had high-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (HGESS), 8(20%) had low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LGESS) and 6(15%) had other histological subtypes. The median age of all patients was 49 (40–55.5). Thirty-seven (92.5%) patients underwent primary surgical resection, and 24 (60%) patients received adjuvant systemic chemotherapy. The survival plots showed the overall population's DFS of 64 months and the OS of 88 months (p-value = 0.001). The median DFS in all patients was 12 months, and the median OS was 14 months (p-value = 0.001). A small but significant DFS benefit was found in patients who received adjuvant systemic chemotherapy, 13.5 versus 11 months (p-value = 0.001). Multivariate Cox-regression analysis revealed that large tumor size and advanced FIGO stage were substantial factors associated with decreased survival.ConclusionUterine sarcomas are rare malignancies with poor prognosis. Multiple factors, including tumor size, mitotic count, stage of the disease, and myometrial invasion, impact survival outcomes. Adjuvant treatment may decrease the recurrence rate and improve DFS but do not affect OS.