Abstract
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS) refers to a rare high-grade aggressive epithelial non-endometrioid endometrial carcinoma, with tumour cells demonstrating epithelial-mesenchymal metaplastic transition and composed of both carcinomatous epithelial and sarcomatous (homologous or heterologous) components. METHODS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology, management approach, outcomes and survival patterns of patients with UCS. Seventy-seven cases of UCS treated with primary surgery in a single tertiary centre underwent retrospective cohort analysis across a ten-year period. Observational data on clinicopathological variables and treatment pathways were reviewed and independent risk factors for relapse and mortality were analysed. RESULTS: The 5-year disease-free and overall survival rates were 52.10% and 46.6%, respectively. Cervical stromal involvement was independently related to disease-free survival (HR = 6.26; 95%CI 1.82-21.59; p = 0.004) and overall survival (HR = 3.64; 95%CI 1.42-9.38; p = 0.007), whilst sarcomatous component type was independently related to recurrence only (HR = 3.62; 95%CI 1.38-9.51; p = 0.009) after adjusting for other pathological and treatment variables. No significant difference in recurrence or mortality was found when comparing the performance of pelvic lymph node dissection (p = 0.803 and p = 0.192 respectively) or the administration of adjuvant treatment (p = 0.546 and p = 0.627 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Whilst our data suggests an encouraging similarity in overall survival rates compared with the literature, UCS continues to represent significant treatment challenges-with a paucity of guidelines available. Data regarding molecular analysis was not systemically available in our cohort, the more recent introduction of which (alongside the revision of endometrial cancer staging) will undoubtedly provide UCS patients with improved therapeutic options in the future.