Abstract
Background : Uterine clear cell carcinoma (UCCC) is a rare histological type of endometrial cancer with poor prognosis and high risk of tumor relapse. Although adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) and/or radiotherapy (RT) are often recommended for early stage UCCC patients, the effectiveness of these treatment strategies remains unclear. Methods : Systematic review and meta-analysis were applied to evaluate treatment-related outcomes of stage I-II UCCC patients. Search strategy was applied using electronic databases until June 1st, 2019. Inclusion criteria were retrospective, observational and prospective studies that reported outcome of UCCC patients receiving adjuvant therapy. Clinical endpoints like overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated. Data were extracted by two independent reviewers and a meta-analysis was performed. Results : 13 articles with a total of 3967 patients were analyzed. Overall, adjuvant CT after surgery could improve 5 year-OS significantly compared to patients without CT (odds ratio 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58-0.96; p=0.02). In comparison, RT could also improve OS in UCCC patients of early stage (odds ratio 0.58, 95% CI 0.44-0.77; p=0.0002) compared to the patients without RT, especially in US and Europe patients. Lastly, when comparing the patients undergoing both CT and RT with those receiving CT or RT alone, no further improvement in OS was observed (odds ratio 1.12, 95% CI 0.63-1.99; P=0.70). Conclusions : Either CT or RT after surgery could improve the OS of early stage of UCCC patients. However, combinatorial CT and RT treatment did not improve the OS compared with CT or RT treatment alone.
Could fertility-sparing surgery be considered for women with early stage ovarian clear cell carcinoma?
