Prognostic factors in patients with uterine carcinosarcoma: a multi-institutional retrospective study from the Japanese Gynecologic Oncology Group

Background: Uterine carcinosarcomas (UCSs) are rare and aggressive tumors. The prognostic factors are not sufficiently known. Methods: We performed a multi-institutional, retrospective study of women with stage I–IV UCS, diagnosed between 2007 and 2012. Data obtained from medical records included demographic, clinicopathological, treatment, and outcome information. Results: A total of 486 patients (median age 65 years) were identified—224 (46 %) were stage I, 32 (7 %) were stage II, 139 (28 %) were stage III, and 91 (19 %) were stage IV. Among them, 277 (57 %) had disease recurrence. Median disease-free survival (DFS) was 16.4 months [95 % confidence interval (CI) 15.7–27.2], and median overall survival (OS) was 72.0 months (95 % CI 43.0–not reached). In total, 454 (94 %) patients received adjuvant treatment, and 440 (91 %) received adjuvant chemotherapy. In multivariate analysis, stage III–IV disease, CA-125 level, and lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) were significantly associated with shorter median DFS. Stage III–IV disease, performance status 2–4, ≥50 % myometrial invasion depth, and postsurgical residual tumor size >1 cm were significantly associated with shorter median OS. Conversely, pelvic lymph node lymphadenectomy was associated with improved DFS and OS. Conclusions: Stage, performance status, CA-125 level, LVSI, and myometrial invasion were associated with poor prognoses. Pelvic lymphadenectomy was associated with improved survival, and may be necessary for the surgical management of UCS.