Long-term survival of patients with recurrent endometrial stromal sarcoma: a multicenter, observational study

The value of surgery and the prognostic factors for patients with recurrent low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma: a retrospective study of 38 patients

OBJECTIVE

As an indolent malignant tumor, the long-term management of low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LGESS) patients required awareness, especially the management of recurrences. Unfortunately, few studies focused on the treatment of recurrent LGESS. Our study aimed to investigate the prognostic factors and the value of recurrent surgery on recurrent LGESS.

METHODS

This retrospective study consecutively recruited patients with pathologically diagnosed recurrent LGESS at our center from April 1, 2004 to April 1, 2020.

RESULTS

After a median follow-up of 137.0 months (95% confidence interval=85.4-188.6), the 5-year cumulative survival rate of the cohort of 38 patients with recurrent LGESS was 71.1%. The median overall survival (OS) and post-recurrence survival (PRS) was 156 and 89.0 months. Survival analysis showed that patients with younger age, positive estrogen receptor (ER) and optimal abdominopelvic debulking in the first recurrent surgery had better prognosis (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that optimal abdominopelvic debulking in the first recurrent surgery was the only independent prognostic factor for OS and PRS (OS=216.0/35.0 months, hazard ratio [HR]=5.319, p=0.034; PRS=not reached/4.0 months, HR=10.900, p=0.006). There was no significant difference in OS and PRS between patients recurred only once and those recurred at least twice (p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The prognosis of recurrent LGESS was favorable. Optimal debulking of no residual tumor in abdominal and pelvic cavity should be the first choice of treatment for recurrent patients, while preservation of ovary or fertility should not be recommended.

Vaginal Endometrial Stroma Sarcoma: A Case Report of A Rare Disease

Vaginal endometrial stromal sarcoma (VESS) arising in the vagina is an extremely rare extrauterine endometrial stromal sarcoma, Stroma Sarcoma. To the best of our knowledge, there have been only a few reported cases in the literature. Therefore, we herein report a case of VESS originating in the vagina. A 27-year-old woman complained of heavy and intermittent vaginal bleeding and abdominal swelling all of six months duration. A mass that was firm to hard in consistency was found in the middle and upper segments of the anterior, right lateral, and posterior fornices and wall of the vagina. An excisional biopsy was taken and the immunohistochemistry result revealed VESS. A cystoscopy was done which revealed polypoid metastatic nodules in the bladder (this put the stage of the disease at IV). She also had laparotomy following features of mechanical obstruction from previous pelvic and intraperitoneal adhesions which were formed from previous laparotomy.

New Insights into Hormonal Therapies in Uterine Sarcomas

Simple Summary

Uterine sarcomas are rare mesenchymal malignant cancers, and surgery represents the mainstay of treatment for early-stage disease. In metastatic setting, uterine sarcomas’ treatment includes palliative surgery, a metastases resection, chemotherapy and targeted therapy. Hormonal therapies may also represent an effective option. Frequently, ER and PR are highly expressed in uterine sarcomas patients and they represent a favourable prognostic factor associated with improved overall survival. The scope of the present review is to report the existing evidence and future perspectives on hormonal therapy in uterine sarcomas, with a special focus on aromatase inhibitors, progestins and gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues, in order to clarify their potential role in daily clinical practice.

Abstract

Uterine sarcoma (US) is a rare mesenchymal malignant cancer type, accounting for 3–7% of uterine malignancies. US prognosis is still poor due to high local and distant recurrence rates. As for molecular features, US may present variable oestrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expressions, mostly depending on histotype and grading. Surgery represents the mainstay of treatment for early-stage disease, while the role of adjuvant chemotherapy or local radiotherapy is still debated and defined on the basis of histotype, tumour grading and stage. In metastatic setting, uterine sarcomas’ treatment includes palliative surgery, a metastases resection, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and targeted therapy. As for the chemotherapy regimen used, drugs that are considered most effective are doxorubicin (combined with ifosfamide or alone), gemcitabine combined with docetaxel and, more recently, trabectedin or pazopanib. Hormonal therapies, including aromatase inhibitors (AIs), progestins and gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues (GnRH-a) may also represent an effective option, in particular for low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LGESS), due to their favourable toxicity profile and patients’ compliance, while their role is still under investigation in uterine leiomyosarcoma (uLMS), high-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (HGESS), undifferentiated uterine sarcoma (USS) and other rarer US. The present review aims to analyse the existing evidence and future perspectives on hormonal therapies in US, in order to clarify their potential role in daily clinical practice.

Survival outcomes and prognostic factors of endometrial stromal sarcoma and undifferentiated uterine sarcoma

PURPOSE

To review the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures of patients diagnosed with Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma (ESS) and Undifferentiated Uterine Sarcoma (USS) at our institution and investigate their clinical outcomes and factors affecting prognosis.

METHODS

We retrospectively collected demographic data, preoperative diagnostic methods and therapeutic management of patients treated for ESS and UUS between January 1995 and December 2019 at Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Spain. Overall survival and disease-free survival were calculated. Cox proportional-hazards regression models were calculated.

RESULTS

Sixty-three patients were included in the study, of which 51(81%) had a diagnosis of ESS and 12(19%) of UUS. Twenty patients (31.7%) were diagnosed after a previous non-oncologic surgery, and 12 of them (60%) suffered from tumor disruption. Cytoreductive procedures were needed in 29 patients (46%), and optimal cytoreduction was achieved in 80.9% of the patients. The median follow-up was 7.6 years (IQR = 0.99-14.31). Five-year overall survival was 57.6% (44.2-68.8) and was significantly better for low-grade ESS (LG-ESS) patients (p < 0.01). Five-year disease-free survival was 57.1% (42.8-69.1) and was also significantly higher in LG-ESS cohort (p = 0.03). After multivariate analysis histological type, age, FIGO stage, optimal surgery and mitotic index were found significantly correlated with survival. For high-grade EES (HG-ESS) and USS patients adjuvant radiotherapy also correlated with improved survival.

CONCLUSION

Overall survival and disease-free survival are significantly better in patients with LG-ESS cohort. HG-ESS and UUS show similar survival outcomes. Age, FIGO stage, optimal surgery and histological type were significantly correlated with survival in the global cohort, whilst adjuvant radiotherapy correlated with improved survival in HG-ESS and UUS patients.

Potential alternative progestin therapy for low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma: A case report

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LG-ESS is a rare and indolent uterine tumor which has remarkable sensitivity to hormonal agents.

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We presented the case of recurrent LG-ESS that was effectively and safely treated with Dienogest.

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Dienogest may be useful for the treatment of LG-ESS that is resistant to other progestins.

Low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LG-ESS) is a rare uterine tumor that sometimes recurs and advances. Hormonal treatment, especially high-dose progestins and aromatase inhibitors (AIs), has demonstrated efficacy against these tumors. Because the standard treatment period is uncertain and hormonal treatment is effective, hormonal agents are likely to be used long-term, especially when a residual tumor is present. However, the long-term use of high-dose progestins and AIs may cause thromboembolism, as well as musculoskeletal stiffness and pain. Dienogest, a relatively new progestin, has demonstrated safety after long-term administration; it also appears to have a more favorable long-term safety profile compared with other progestins and AIs. We encountered a young patient with recurrent LG-ESS that metastasized to the liver and exhibited resistance to high-dose medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). The patient was successfully treated with dienogest monotherapy. This is the first report describing the efficacy of dienogest against recurrent and metastatic LG-ESS that is resistant to MPA and other agents.

Prognostic nomogram for predicting survival in patients with high grade endometrial stromal sarcoma: a Surveillance Epidemiology, and End Results database analysis

OBJECTIVE

High grade endometrial stromal sarcoma is a rare and highly malignant tumor that lacks a prognostic model. The aim of this study was to develop a prognostic nomogram predicting the overall survival of patients with high grade endometrial stromal sarcoma.

METHODS

Clinical data for patients were derived from the Surveillance Epidemiology, and End Results database. Cox analysis and Akaike's information criterion were used to construct the nomogram. The concordance index, time dependent receiver operating characteristic curve, and calibration plot were used to evaluate the discriminative and calibrating capability. The net reclassification index, integrated discrimination improvement, and concordance index change were also compared between the nomogram and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage. Clinical benefit was evaluated using decision curve analysis. The patients were separated into groups with low and high nomogram risk scores. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis and Cox analysis were used to investigate the survival difference between the two groups.

RESULTS

The training and validation cohorts had 461 and 195 patients, respectively. A nomogram that incorporated disease stage, age, surgery, lymph node status, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy for predicting overall survival was established and validated. The concordance index of the nomogram was 0.734 (0.708-0.761) in the training cohort and 0.705 (0.659-0.751) in the validation cohort. The calibration plots showed a favorable calibrating ability of the nomogram. The 1 year and 3 year time dependent receiver operating characteristic curves showed the better discriminative ability of the nomogram than the staging system. The concordance index change, net reclassification index, and integrated discrimination improvement also indicated a significantly (p<0.05) better predictive power of the nomogram over disease stage. Furthermore, decision curve analysis suggested that the nomogram was clinically useful and had a larger clinical net benefit than disease stage alone. Patients with a high risk score had distinctly poorer survival than those with low risk scores.

CONCLUSIONS

A prognostic nomogram in patients with high grade endometrial stromal sarcoma exhibited favorable prognostic discrimination and survival prediction ability compared with FIGO stage.

Long-term multidisciplinary treatment including proton therapy for a recurrent low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma and pathologically prominent epithelial differentiation: an autopsy case report

BACKGROUND

Long-term follow-up reports of low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LGESS) including its clinical course and pathological data are rare. We previously reported the case of a Japanese woman diagnosed with LGESS, who was treated with multidisciplinary therapy. She had been suffering from uterine cervical tumor diagnosed as cervical polyps, or fibroid in statu nascendi, since 24 years old. The patient had survived for 25 years with the disease. This report presents her progress and pathological change since the previous report.

CASE PRESENTATION

At age 45, the patient experienced a relapse of the remnant LGESS tumor between the right diaphragm and liver. Although chemotherapy was not effective, the tumor was eliminated by proton therapy. At age 46 years, the remnant tumors outside the irradiated field were resected. The disease was originally diagnosed as "neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC)" using the surgical specimen. Therefore, cisplatin and irinotecan combination chemotherapy were administered to treat the remnant dissemination. After 4 cycles of chemotherapy, the liver metastases had enlarged and were resected surgically. Consequently, no remnant tumor was visible in the abdominal cavity at the end of the surgery. To determine the origin of NEC, we examined the previously resected specimens obtained from her ileum at age 40 years. A boundary between the LGESS and neuroendocrine tumor grade 2 (NET G2)-like lesion was found in the tumor, indicating that the origin of these tumors was LGESS. After less than 2 years of chemotherapy and undergoing surgery, a relapse of the tumor in the liver induced biliary duct obstruction with jaundice, which was treated with endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage. Although pazopanib prolonged her life for 10 months, she died from sepsis at age 49 years, which was caused by the infection that spread to the liver metastatic tumor via the stented biliary ducts. Autopsy revealed adenocarcinoma-like differentiation of the tumor.

CONCLUSION

This LGESS patient has survived for a long time owing to multidisciplinary treatment including proton therapy. The LGESS tumor differentiated to NET G2-like tissue and then further to adenocarcinoma-like tissue during the long-term follow-up.

Recurrence of Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma, Two Decades Post-Treatment

Endometrial stromal cell sarcomas (ESS) are a unique subtype of uterine malignancy. Recurrent low grade endometrial stromal sarcomas (LESS) is identified in half of the patients. Here, we discuss a case of a 76-year-old Asian female with a past medical history of adenomyosis and hypertension who presented to the outpatient clinic with a chief complaint of painless hematuria for one day. Computed tomography scan of abdomen and pelvis with contrast showed a new right-sided mixed cystic and solid pelvic mass measuring up to 6 cm, obstructing and invading the distal right ureter, which was concerning for malignancy. Positron emission tomography (PET scan) demonstrated a right pelvic mass with increased radiotracer activity consistent with malignancy. She underwent laparotomy with excision of the right-sided pelvic mass with an abdominal washout and at the same time, also underwent cystoscopy with right ureteral stent placement. Tissue pathology was consistent with spindle cell neoplasm with staining and histologic features consistent with a recurrent stromal cell sarcoma. Uterine sarcomas tend to have an aggressive nature but there are key features about ESS that distinguish it from other uterine sarcomas. ESS has a more indolent clinical course and can reoccur years after initial diagnosis. They usually relapse locally, although relapses in extra-uterine sites have also been reported. Treatment of ESS depends on the grade and stage at the time of diagnosis. The main line of treatment for ESS consists of a total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) and salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO). The significance of this case demonstrates that, although remission can be obtained after the initial diagnosis, recurrence can happen. Even when patients seem to be disease-free, clinicians should follow them closely; early diagnosis is important as treatment for this type of entity has a high survival rate.

Recurrent endometrial stromal sarcoma in the abdominal wall following a total hysterectomy: A rare case report

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High-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (HG-ESS) behaves in a more aggressive manner with a poorer overall prognosis than low-grade ESS.

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Recurrence develops in one-half to two-third of patients with High-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma.

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The major therapeutic procedure of patients with single site recurrent HG-ESS is primarily surgical resection.

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Interdisciplinary and interprofessional teamwork are important in management of recurrent HG-ESS.

Introduction

High-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (HG-ESS) is a rare pathological type of uterine sarcoma. Over 80 % of affected patients would experience recurrences within a few years of initial presentation. Such case is rare and therefore, we need to report the case including the management. Information on performing good surgical techniques is important.

Case presentation

A 55-year-old female patient was referred after having a total hysterectomy and bilateral salphingoophorectomy at a private hospital. Results of pathologic examination showed that the patient had HG-ESS. The patient subsequently received adjuvant chemotherapy. The regimens used were Carboplatin (AUC-6) and Paclitaxel (175 mg/m²). Within five months following the chemotherapy, she complained rapid abdominal enlargement, which was a clinically mobile palpable solid mass at the level of the navel. Imaging findings suggested recurrent endometrial stromal sarcoma in the abdominal wall. Wide excision and frozen section, which were continued with mesh insertion and abdominal wall reconstruction, were then performed.

Discussion

Recurrence develops in one-half to two-third of patients with HG-ESS. It has been reported that the sites of recurrence usually include multiple lung metastases, peritoneal metastases, and/or local recurrences. There is currently no standard therapy for patients with recurrence of the disease as HG-ESS is a rare clinical entity. Treatment has been defined based on experiences gained from retrospective case reports.

Conclusion

Successful management of patients with recurrent abdominal wall HG-ESS requires interdisciplinary and interprofessional teamwork. Multi-centre prospective trials are required to develop a guideline of optimal treatment for the disease entity, particularly the recurrence.

The clinical benefits of hormonal treatment for LG-ESS: a meta-analysis

PURPOSE

To evaluate the clinical benefits of hormonal treatment for patients with low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LG-ESS) by reviewing the published literature and performing a meta-analysis.

METHODS

Correlational studies related to hormonal treatment for LG-ESS patients were collected by searching the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases up to December 2018. Eligible studies were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The main inclusion criteria included: original studies with definite diagnoses of LG-ESS that evaluated the clinical benefits of hormonal treatment, studies with at least 10 cases, and studies published in English. Reviews, case reports, letters, comments or conference abstracts, studies without sufficient data and overlapping or republished studies were excluded. The study quality was evaluated, and pooled relative risks and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using Review Manager 5.3.

RESULTS

A total of 10 retrospective studies were included. The NOS stars of the 10 studies ranged from 7 to 9 points, which was considered to be of high quality. Recurrence and death information was provided in 9 and 6 studies, respectively. The overall pooled RR for recurrence was 0.66 (95% CI 0.47-0.94), which indicated that hormonal treatment was effective at reducing the recurrence risk (P = 0.02). The overall pooled RR for death was 0.81 (95% CI 0.59-1.12), which showed that hormonal treatment had little effect in prolonging overall survival (P = 0.20). Stratified analysis showed that compared with the group without any adjuvant treatments, hormonal treatment alone significantly decreased the risk of recurrence (P = 0.02), while hormonal treatment had no significant effects on overall survival (P = 0.38). Another subgroup analysis indicated that for stage I-II patients, hormonal treatment could significantly decrease the risk of recurrence (P = 0.02) but could not influence overall survival (P = 0.87). However, for stage III-IV patients, hormonal treatment had little benefit both in reducing the recurrence risk and prolonging overall survival (P = 0.49/0.08). Egger's and Begg's test showed that the publication bias for the literature was satisfactorily controlled.

CONCLUSION

Adjuvant hormonal treatment should be considered as a feasible adjuvant therapy for reducing the recurrence risk of patients with LG-ESS while bearing little benefit on overall survival.

Vaginal endometrial stromal sarcoma: A literature review

Vaginal endometrial stromal sarcoma (VESS) is a rare disease. To the best of our knowledge, there have only been a few reported cases in the literature. Therefore, we conducted a literature review to obtain specific knowledge of this disease. Thirteen cases of VESS were found by searching the Medline and EMBASE databases in the English language. The mechanism of VESS may be associated with endometriosis, and its diagnosis largely depends on pathological examination because it has no typical symptoms. Treatment of VESS incorporates surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapy. Some novel drugs targeting its mechanism may become alternative therapies. Its prognostic factors may include tumor stage and the expression of hormonal receptors.

Hormonal therapy in uterine sarcomas

Uterine sarcomas (USs) are a group of rare but aggressive uterine malignancies, accounting for only 1% of the malignant tumors of female reproductive organs. Due to the high rate of recurrence and metastasis, the prognosis of USs is poor. Given the high mortality rate and limited clinical benefit of surgery and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, hormonal therapy has shown good prospects in recent years. Hormonal agents include progestins, aromatase inhibitors (AIs), and gonadotropin‐releasing hormone analogue (GnRH‐a). According to the literature, hormonal therapy has been confirmed effective for recurrent, metastatic or unresectable low‐grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LGESS) and hormone receptor positive (ER+/PR+) uterine leiomyosarcoma (uLMS) with favorable tolerance and compliance. Besides, hormonal therapy can also be used in patients with early‐staged disease who desire to preserve fertility. However, due to the rarity of USs, the rationale of hormonal therapy is generally extrapolated from data of hormone‐sensitive breast cancer, and present studies of hormonal therapy in USs were almost limited to case reports and small‐sized retrospective studies. Therefore, further systematic researches and standardized clinical trials are needed to establish the optimal hormonal therapy regimen of USs. Herein, we reviewed the existing studies related to the hormonal therapy in USs in order to provide reference for clinical management in specific settings.

Androgen receptor as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in uterine leiomyosarcoma

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the expression of androgen receptor (AR) and its correlation with disease status and survival outcome in uterine leiomyosarcoma with other hormone receptors.

METHODS

The medical records and paraffin blocks of 42 patients were reviewed. The immunohistochemical expression of AR, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), and cytochrome P450, family 19, subfamily A, polypeptide 1 (CYP19A1) were assessed using tissue microarray.

RESULTS

In total, AR expression was observed in 11 patients (26.2%). International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and AR were independent factors for disease-free survival (DFS) in multivariate regression analysis (odds ratio [OR]=5.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.2-28.4 and OR=0.2; 95% CI=0.05-0.90; p=0.029 and 0.032, respectively). There were no deaths in the AR expression group, whereas the 5-year overall survival (OS) was 54.8% in the no expression group (p=0.014). Co-expression of ER and/or PR with AR was associated with significantly better 5-year DFS and OS than those with negative AR (72.7% vs. 28.6% and 100% vs. 64.3%; p=0.020 and 0.036, respectively). AR may be an independent prognostic marker regardless of ER/PR.

CONCLUSION

AR can be a potential prognostic biomarker in uterine leiomyosarcoma.

Clinicopathological characteristics and treatment strategies for patients with low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma

To investigate and evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics and treatment strategies for patients with low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LG-ESS).The medical records of LG-ESS patients who were treated at 2 cancer referral centers from January 2005 to December 2015 were retrospectively reviewed.Twenty patients with LG-ESS met the inclusion criteria and were included in this analysis. Hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was the mainstay of surgery. Lymphadenectomy was performed in 12 (60%) cases, and no positive nodes were identified. CD10 was the most commonly used immunohistochemistry marker, followed by smooth muscle actin (SMA), estrogen receptor (ER), desmin, progesterone receptor (PR), and S-100; the positivity rates of these markers were 88.2%, 66.7%, 75.0%, 16.7%, 88.9%, and 0, respectively. Postoperative chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormonal treatment were provided alone or in combination in 10 (50%) patients, 4 (20%) patients, and 1 (5%) patient, respectively. One patient developed lung metastasis at initial diagnosis, and 2 (10%) patients had recurrence with distant metastasis. They all underwent complete or incomplete resection followed by hormonal treatment. The overall survival time of these patients was 66, 89, and 109 months at last contact, respectively. The 5-year and 10-year disease-free survival rates for the entire cohort were 90% and 72%, respectively. No patients died of the disease.CD10/SMA/ER/PR in combination with desmin/S-100 might improve the diagnostic accuracy. Surgical resection is the foremost treatment for LG-ESS patients with recurrence or distant metastasis. Hormonal treatment may be beneficial for unresectable or residual tumors.

Long-term survival in low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma with childbirth and multidisciplinary treatment: a case report

Introduction

Low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma is very rare and difficult to diagnose in the early stage. A standard treatment has not been established. In this case report of a patient with long-term survival, we describe an effective treatment for advanced low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma.

Case presentation

A 24-year-old Japanese woman who presented with prolonged menstruation was diagnosed with leiomyoma on the basis of a specimen resected transvaginally. She underwent ten resections in 10 years without a malignancy diagnosis. During this period, she gave birth. At age 34 years, she visited our hospital, complaining of lower abdominal pain. A 10cm tumor was detected behind her uterus. The disease was diagnosed as an advanced malignant ovarian tumor before surgery. A laparotomy was performed, with many remnants left in the abdominal cavity. The final diagnosis was advanced low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma. After 12 cycles of gemcitabine and docetaxel combination chemotherapy, the tumor disappeared completely. A retrospective pathological review of the specimens resected transvaginally showed that the tumors included low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma elements. When the patient was age 42 years, the sarcoma recurred. It was detected around the right diaphragm and liver. Despite administration of gemcitabine and docetaxel, ascites and pleural effusion accumulated. Administration of medroxyprogesterone acetate, leuprorelin acetate, and anastrozole gradually reduced the ascites and pleural effusion. In addition to the three hormone drugs, 18 cycles of paclitaxel and carboplatin were administered. The patient recovered from her critically ill state and is currently alive with reduced tumor at age 45 years.

Conclusions

Our patient with low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma whose disease began in her youth gave birth and experienced long-term survival with surgery, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy.