Retrospective analysis of adjuvant treatment for localized, operable uterine leiomyosarcoma

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of uterine sarcoma: a 10-year retrospective single-center study in China

BACKGROUND

Uterine sarcoma is a rare and heterogeneous gynecological malignancy characterized by aggressive progression and poor prognosis. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis of uterine sarcoma in Chinese patients.

METHODS

In this single-center retrospective study, we reviewed the medical records of 75 patients with histologically verified uterine sarcoma treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University between 2011 and 2020. Information on clinical characteristics, treatments, pathology and survival was collected. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were visualized in Kaplan-Meier curves. Prognostic factors were identified using the log-rank test for univariate analysis and Cox-proportional hazards regression models for multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

The histopathological types included 36 endometrial stromal sarcomas (ESS,48%), 33 leiomyosarcomas (LMS,44%) and 6 adenosarcomas (8%). The mean age at diagnosis was 50.2 ± 10.7 years. Stage I and low-grade accounted for the majority. There were 26 recurrences and 25 deaths at the last follow-up. The mean PFS and OS were 89.41 (95% CI: 76.07-102.75) and 94.03 (95% CI: 81.67-106.38) months, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that > 50 years, post-menopause, advanced stage, ≥ 1/2 myometrial invasion, lymphovascular space invasion and high grade were associated with shorter survival (P < 0.05). Color Doppler flow imaging positive signals were associated with shorter PFS in the LMS group (P = 0.046). The ESS group had longer PFS than that of the LMS group (99.56 vs. 76.05 months, P = 0.043). The multivariate analysis showed that post-menopause and advanced stage were independent risk factors of both PFS and OS in the total cohort and LMS group. In the ESS group, diagnosis age > 50 years and high-grade were independent risk factors of PFS, while high-grade and lymphovascular space invasion were independent risk factors of OS.

CONCLUSION

In Chinese patients with uterine sarcoma, post-menopause and advanced stage were associated with a significantly poorer prognosis. The prognosis of ESS was better than that of LMS. Color Doppler flow imaging positive signals of the tumor helped to identify LMS, which needs to be further tested in a larger sample in the future.

Current Treatment Options: Uterine Sarcoma

OPINION STATEMENT

The cornerstone of treatment for uterine sarcoma, regardless of histologic type, remains en bloc surgical resection with total hysterectomy. In the case of incidental diagnosis during another procedure, such as myomectomy, where a hysterectomy was not performed initially, completion hysterectomy or cervical remnant removal is recommended. The completion of additional surgical procedures, including bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and lymphadenectomy, remains nuanced. Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy remains controversial in the setting of most subtypes of uterine sarcoma, except in the case of hormone-receptor positivity, such as in low grade endometrial stromal sarcoma, where it is indicated as part of definitive surgical treatment. In the absence of apparent nodal involvement, we do not recommend performing universal lymphadenectomy for patients with sarcoma. We recommend systemic therapy for patients with extra-uterine or advanced stage disease, high-grade histology, and recurrence. The most active chemotherapy regimens for advanced, high-grade disease remain doxorubicin or gemcitabine and docetaxol combination therapy. A notable exception is low grade endometrial stromal sarcoma, where we recommend anti-hormonal therapy in the front-line setting. Radiation therapy is reserved for selected cases where it can aid in palliating symptoms.

Clinical Features and Prognostic Factors in Patients With Uterine Leiomyosarcoma: A Single-Center Experience

Background Uterine leiomyosarcomas (LMS) are associated with more recurrence and higher mortality compared to other uterine cancers. Considering the limited number of case series in the literature, the limited effectiveness of standard treatment methods, and the inadequacy of molecular biomarkers, we planned to investigate the effects of treatment methods and survival outcomes in these patients. Methodology The study was designed retrospectively, and the records of patients who were followed up and treated at Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Medical Oncology Clinic, between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2021, were reviewed. Patients over 18 years of age with a pathological diagnosis of uterine LMS were included. Demographic, clinical, and pathological data were recorded using the hospital database. The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging was reassessed for each patient in accordance with the AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, Eighth Edition (2017). Tumor size, location, and grade were also evaluated. Types of treatments, protocols, and adverse effects were recorded. Relapsed patients, relapse localization, and treatments given at relapse were recorded and compared.  Results Twenty-eight patients were included. The mean age of the patients was 53.7 years. The median follow-up time was 39.3 months. The localization of LMS could be detected in 22 (78.57%) patients, among them 20 (90.9%) patients had intramural, 1 (4.5%) had submucosal, and 1 (4.5%) had subserosal LMS. All patients (26, 92.8%) underwent primary surgery, except for 2 (7.14%) patients who were metastatic at the time of diagnosis. Adjuvant treatment suggestion was made for 7 (25%) patients with a high risk of recurrence in the multidisciplinary tumor council. Partial response was observed in 1 (3.5%) of the 2 (7.1%) metastatic patients, and stable disease was observed in the other. Recurrence was detected in 22 (84.6%) patients . Fifteen (53.6%) patients died during the follow-up period. Survival was better in premenopausal patients (99.2 versus 51.6 months, P = 0.056). No significant difference was found when the survival of patients who received and did not receive adjuvant treatment were compared. In relapsed patients, there was no significant difference in survival between patients who underwent and did not undergo surgical treatment. Conclusions Uterine LMS is a rare and aggressive malignancy with limited diagnostic methods, frequent recurrences, high mortality, and limited use of nonsurgical treatments. The positive effect of adjuvant treatment on survival has not been demonstrated. Further studies are needed to investigate the effect of hormone receptor status on prognosis and new biomarkers.

Intraoperative Flow Cytometry for the Characterization of Gynecological Malignancies

Simple Summary

Aneuploidy and high proliferative potential are distinct features of neoplastic cells. Based on the established role of intraoperative flow cytometry in various types of cancer, the aim of the present study was to investigate its role in cancer cell identification during surgery for gynecological malignancies. The analysis time was 5–6 min per sample. A large percentage of tumors were characterized as aneuploid, while all tumor samples had a significantly high proliferation. Flow cytometry was performed in accordance with pathological evaluation, and the method had high sensitivity and specificity. Our results verify the value of intraoperative flow cytometry in gynecological malignancies, and warrant further investigation in multicenter studies.

Abstract

Cell-cycle analysis has shown the presence of aneuploidy to be associated with poor prognosis. We developed an innovative rapid cell-cycle analysis protocol (the Ioannina protocol) that permitted the intraoperative identification of neoplastic cells in a plethora of malignancies. Herein, we aimed to investigate the potential role of cell-cycle analysis in the intraoperative characterization of gynecological malignancies. Women who underwent surgery for gynecological malignancies in our institution over a three-year period were included in this study. Permanent section pathology evaluation was used as the gold standard for malignancy evaluation. Total accordance was observed between flow cytometry and pathology evaluation. In total, 21 aneuploid cancers were detected following DNA index calculation. Of these, 20 were hyperploid and 1 was hypoploid. In addition, tumor samples were characterized by a significantly lower percentage of cells in G0/G1, as well as an induced tumor index. The response time for flow cytometry to obtain results was 5–6 min per sample. It seems that flow cytometry analyses for intraoperative tumor evaluation can be safely expanded to gynecological malignancies. This is a novel practical approach that has been proven valuable in several tumor types to date, and also seems to be reliable for gynecological malignancies. Intraoperative flow cytometry is expected to be crucial in decisions of lymph node dissection in endometrial cancers, due to its rapid response regarding the tumor invasion of part or all of the myometrial thickness. In this way, the surgeon can quickly modify the plane of dissection. Our results warrant the further investigation of applying iFC in larger, multicenter studies.