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Combining cohort and period methods for retrospective time trend analyses of long-term cancer patient survival rates.

Assessing trends in long-term cancer patient survival is an essential component of monitoring progress against cancer by cancer registries. Traditional assessment of long-term survival ('cohort analysis') is very useful to disclose trends in long-term survival rates of patients diagnosed many years ago, but it does not allow the disclosure of recent trends in long-term survival rates. The latter can be achieved by an alternative method of survival analysis ('period analysis'), which has been proposed a few years ago. On the other hand, unlike cohort analysis, period analysis does not provide estimates of long-term survival rates for patients diagnosed in the early years after initiation of cancer registration. In this paper, a method of retrospective analysis of time trends in long-term survival rates is introduced, which combines the advantages of both cohort and period analysis ('mixed analysis'). This method thereby allows for a comprehensive monitoring of trends in long-term survival over an extended time span from the earliest to the most recent years of cancer registration. The use of the method is illustrated for retrospective time trend analyses of long-term survival of cancer patients in the United States with the 1973-1999 database of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program of the National Cancer Institute.

Cohort Studies↗

Reproducibility in retrospective grading of acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic marrow transplantation.

We have undertaken a formal study to evaluate the reproducibility of retrospective assessments for grading the severity of acute GVHD. Using criteria previously established by the Seattle group, three reviewers independently assigned GVHD severity grades for a set of 100 marrow transplant patients. Significant differences were found in the distribution of GVHD grades assigned by one of the reviewers as compared to the other two reviewers. In only 40% of cases did all three reviewers assign the same GVHD grade, and in only 68-71% of cases did all three reviewers assign the same grade within 0-I vs II-IV or 0-II vs III-IV categories. Despite the high rate of disagreement between any two reviewers, at least two reviewers assigned the same overall GVHD grade in 93% of cases. These results suggest that current criteria for assessing the severity of GVHD by a single reviewer are not sufficiently reliable for rigorous clinical studies. As an alternative to the original criteria, we have developed and tested simplified criteria that summarize the clinical course of GVHD as reflected by the progression of disease and the amount of immunosuppressive treatment used to control the disease. Our results suggest that the revised criteria might yield more reproducible retrospective grading than the original criteria. Although the original criteria and the revised criteria might produce different results for individual patients, the overall distributions of grades with the two systems were similar. The proposed revised criteria could be implemented without disrupting the continuity and consistency with previous grading assigned by the original criteria.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗

Early intensive therapy with autologous stem cell transplantation in advanced Hodgkin's disease: retrospective analysis of 158 cases from the French registry.

This retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate cure rates, toxicity and late effects of early intensive therapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease (HD). One hundred and fifty-eight cases of ASCT registered in the French database (SFGM) were retrospectively analyzed. Disease status at the time of ASCT was first partial response (PR) in 85, first complete remission (CR1) in 45 or primary refractory in 28 cases. The median time interval between diagnosis and ASCT was 7 months (range 4-13). At the time of analysis in December 1995, 121/158 patients (76.6%) were alive, including 111 (70.2%) in continuous CR with a median follow-up for surviving patients of 46 months (range 8-123). Peri-ASCT toxic death rate was 3%, and the actuarial risk of new malignancies was 4.9% at 5 years. The cumulative probability of 5-year overall survival (OS) was 75.2% for the entire group of patients, 80.6% for the chemosensitive ones, and 33.9% for the primary refractory (chemosensitive vs refractory, P < 0.0001). The cumulative probability of 5-year event-free survival (EFS) was 66.1% for the entire group of patients, 73.7% for the chemosensitive ones, and 26.1% for the primary refractory (chemosensitive vs refractory, P < 0.0001). The only significant prognostic factor for both OS and EFS was disease status at the time of ASCT. Early ASCT in advanced HD is feasible, with a low risk of toxicity and without a higher rate of late effects compared with conventional treatment. Results achieved in chemosensitive patients at the time of transplantation lay the basis of future prospective randomized trials comparing ACST as front-line treatment to conventional treatment in high-risk cases.

Adolescent↗

Peri-engraftment clinical abnormalities following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation: a retrospective review of 216 patients.

To evaluate the significance of clinical abnormalities occurring during the peri-engraftment period following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), we retrospectively analyzed the data of 216 allogeneic HCT recipients. The most frequently observed peri-engraftment clinical abnormality (PECA) was noninfectious fever in 58 patients, followed by hepatic dysfunction in 39, weight gain in 22, and renal insufficiency in 11. Frequently identified predictive factors for a higher incidence of each PECA were HCT from an unrelated or mismatched donor, GVHD prophylaxis with cyclosporine alone, and rapid engraftment. Considering that donor type and GVHD prophylaxis are closely related to GVHD, these observations suggest that the development of PECAs might be associated with a graft-versus-host reaction. This hypothesis was supported by the fact that the patient group with each PECA showed a higher incidence of grades 3-4 acute or chronic extensive GVHD, with varying degrees of statistical significance. Although our data should be interpreted cautiously in view of their retrospective nature, some of the PECAs occurring after allogeneic HCT may be atypical manifestations of GVHD and may be associated with severe forms of acute or chronic GVHD.

Adolescent↗

A retrospective study of the relationship between biomarkers of atherosclerosis and erectile dysfunction in 988 men.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is associated with clinical atherosclerosis and several atherosclerotic risk factors including smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, obesity and sedentary lifestyle. Clinical atherosclerosis is also associated with these same risk factors and with biomarkers of inflammation, thrombosis, endothelial cell activation. We evaluated the cross-sectional association between the degree of ED and levels of atherosclerotic biomarkers. A subcohort of 988 US male health professionals between the ages 46 and 81 years as part of an ongoing epidemiologic study had atherosclerotic biomarkers measured from blood collected in 1994-1995. These same men had in 2000, been retrospectively asked about erectile function in 1995 and in 2000. Biennial questionnaires since 1986 assessed medical conditions, medications, smoking, physical activity, body mass index, alcohol intake. The retrospective assessment of erectile function in 2000 for 1995 in these 988 men ranged from very good - 28.2%, good - 25.1%, fair - 19.2%, poor - 13.6%, to very poor - 13.9%. Men with poor to very poor erectile function compared to men with good and very good erectile function had 2.9 the odds of having elevated Factor VII levels (P=0.03), 1.9 times the odds of having elevated vascular cell adhesion molecule (P=0.13) and 2.0 times the odds of having elevated intracellular adhesion molecule (P=0.06) and 2.1 times the odds of having elevated total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein ratio (P=0.02) comparing the top to bottom quintiles for each atherosclerotic biomarker after multivariate adjustment. Lipoprotein(a), homocysteine, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor receptor, C-reactive protein and fibrinogen were not associated with the degree of erectile function after adjustment. We conclude that selected biomarkers for endothelial function, thrombosis and dyslipidemia but not inflammation are associated with the degree of ED in this cross-sectional analysis. Future studies evaluating the prospective association of ED, endothelial function and cardiovascular disease appear warranted.

Aged↗

Body mass index in spinal cord injury -- a retrospective study.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence of overweight and severely overweight (obese) in veterans with spinal cord injury. SETTING: Veterans Administration Hospital in Wisconsin. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of all the patients registered in the current database with the Spinal Cord Injury Unit in the Veterans Administration Hospital was undertaken Data collected for each patient included age, sex, height, date of assessment of the height, weight, date of assessment of the weight, duration of spinal cord injury and the type of spinal cord injury -- paraplegia versus quadriplegia. The body mass index (BMI) was subsequently calculated for each patient and the prevalence of overweight and obesity were determined. RESULTS: There were a total of 408 patients registered in the database with the Spinal Injury Unit. The median age was 56 years, and the mean age 55.8 years. Of all patients with spinal cord injury, 52.2% patients had paraplegia and 47.7% had quadriplegia. The mean duration of injury was 19 years. Of the total number of patients, 46.0% were ASIA A, 11.0% were ASIA B, 12.7% were ASIA C and 29.1% were ASIA D. In all, 27.9% patients had a normal BMI and 3.6% patients were undernourished (BMI less than 18.5 kg/m(2)). The prevalence of overweight was 65.8% and 29.9% patients were obese. CONCLUSION: Overweight and obesity are problems of a significant magnitude in veterans with spinal cord injury.

Adult↗

Tutorial: application of regression analysis concepts to retrospective research in speech pathology.

The underlying logic of retrospective research in speech pathology is examined critically. This research model focuses on differences among discrete groups. Regression analysis concepts are suggested as a tool to evaluate the practical or theoretical importance of statistically significant differences obtained in retrospective research. This type of analysis focuses on the degree to which a criterion measure can be predicted from knowledge of group classification, rather than on differences among means.

Adult↗

Risk for speech disorder associated with early recurrent otitis media with effusion: two retrospective studies.

The goals of this two-part series on children with histories of early recurrent otitis media with effusion (OME) were to assess the risk for speech disorder with and without hearing loss and to develop a preliminary descriptive-explanatory model for the findings. Recently available speech analysis programs, lifespan reference data, and statistical techniques were implemented with three cohorts of children with OME and their controls originally assessed in the 1980s: 35 typically developing 3-year-old children followed since infancy in a university-affiliated pediatrics clinic, 50 typically developing children of Native American background followed since infancy in a tribal health clinic, and (in the second paper) 70 children followed prospectively from 2 months of age to 3 years of age and older. Dependent variables included information from a suite of 10 metrics of speech production (Shriberg, Austin, Lewis, McSweeny, & Wilson, 1997a, 1 997b). Constraints on available sociodemographic and hearing status information limit generalizations from the comparative findings for each database, particularly data from the two retrospective studies. The present paper reports findings from risk analysis of conversational speech data from the first two cohorts, each of which included retrospective study of children for whom data on hearing loss were not available. Early recurrent OME was not associated with increased risk for speech disorder in the pediatrics sample but was associated with approximately 4.6 (CI = 1.10-20.20) increased risk for subclinical or clinical speech disorder in the children of Native American background. Discussion underscores the appropriateness of multifactorial risk models for this subtype of child speech disorder.

Age Factors↗

A retrospective case-controlled study of 1490 consecutive patients presenting to a neuro-otology clinic to examine the relationship between blood lipid levels and sensorineural hearing loss.

This study set out to test the null hypothesis that the distribution of blood lipid levels is the same in a population with a sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) as in a control population. Hyperlipidaemia has been implicated as an aetiological factor in SNHL; however, the majority of reports are retrospective, lack adequate controls, or are based on a series of cases which may represent incidental findings and not a true causal relationship. In all, 1490 consecutive patients who presented to a neuro-otology clinic were studied retrospectively. This group is exceptional in that all patients had had fasting lipid profiles done regardless of their presenting problem. Those with a mean SNHL > 25 dB (0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz) were compared with those with hearing thresholds < or = 25 dB. An analysis of variance was also done. The study group was also compared with the National Study of Hearing data set to add external validity. Simple correlations were found between hearing thresholds and many parameters such as blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglyceride or fasting cholesterol. Analysis of variance of the neuro-otology group, controlling for variables such as age and sex, showed no significant association between hearing and blood pressure, packed cell volume, mean corpuscular volume, fasting glucose, triglyceride or fasting cholesterol. However, when general linear interactive modelling was used to analyse hearing thresholds, raised total fasting cholesterol was associated with significantly better hearing threshold levels. This study leads to a rejection of the Null hypothesis that the distribution of lipid levels is the same in a population with a hearing loss as in a control population, as hearing thresholds were found to be significantly better in those with raised cholesterol levels.

Adolescent↗

Signs of testicular insufficiency in adrenomyeloneuropathy and neurologically asymptomatic X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy: a retrospective study.

X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) is characterized by central nervous system demyelination, and impaired steroidogenesis in the adrenal cortex and testis. Most patients develop adrenocortical insufficiency. We studied retrospectively the frequency and severity of testicular dysfunction in 26 men with X-ALD. Twenty-one had adrenomyeloneuropathy and five patients were neurologically asymptomatic. In addition to obtaining a routine history and physical examination, we studied plasma levels of testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin, the free androgen index, and the plasma concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate, LH and FSH. In a subset of patients, the testosterone response to hCG and the LH and FSH responses to GnRH were also determined. Clinical signs of gonadal dysfunction were manifested by diminished libido (46%), largely overlapping with erectile dysfunction (58%), and failure of the testes to descend (15%). Physical examination revealed diminished body sexual hair (50%), gynaecomastia (35%), and small testes (12%). Laboratory studies showed low plasma total testosterone levels in 12%, and an insufficient increase after stimulation with hCG in 88% (15 of 17 patients tested). Plasma LH concentration was increased in 16%, and the plasma FSH level was elevated in 32%. The response of LH concentrations to GnRH stimulation was abnormally high in 47% (nine of 19 patients studied), and the response of FSH levels was too low in 16% (three of 19 patients tested). In conclusion, in a retrospective study of 26 men' with X-ALD, in 20 some signs of clinical hypogonadism were found. Plasma testosterone values were generally in the normal range, but upon testing of the hypothalamo-pituitary-testis axis some abnormalities became apparent.

Adolescent↗

Dens invaginatus: a retrospective study of prophylactic invagination treatment.

AIM: To evaluate the prognosis for pulp survival in teeth with dens invaginatus (DI) subjected to prophylactic invagination treatment. DESIGN: A retrospective study by examination of dental records and radiographs. SAMPLE AND METHODS: The dental records of all patients referred to the Eastman Dental Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, with the diagnosis dens invaginatus between the years 1969-1997 were reviewed. Clinical data was collected from the dental records and the diagnosis DI was confirmed on the radiographs from the time of referral. 95 teeth in 66 patients had been subjected to prophylactic invagination treatment. The retrospective evaluation was based on an examination of the radiographs available from the follow-ups. RESULTS: 11.3% of the teeth that were followed for 6 months or longer (n = 80) were judged as failures, All failures were initially classified as Oehlers type 2. CONCLUSION: The findings stress the importance of a follow-up program for teeth subjected to prophylactic invagination treatment in order to avoid serious periradicular complications that could influence the outcome of the endodontic treatment.

Adolescent↗

A retrospective drug utilization evaluation of antihyperlipidaemic agents in a medical centre in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the prescribing of antihyperlipidaemic agents in an 800-bed medical centre in southern Taiwan. METHODS: A retrospective study based on reviewing medical records was conducted using a computerized database. We randomly selected 344 patients (age range 5-85 years) who received an antihyperlipidaemic agent between 1 April 1994 and 30 September 1994 and reviewed their medical records. All the related data from the date when the antihyperlipidaemic agent was first prescribed to 31 December 1994 was assessed. Usage guidelines for antihyperlipidaemic agents were defined by referring to the literature and specialist opinion. RESULTS: Two hundred and twenty-two patients (64.5%) were treated with antihyperlipidaemic agents in accordance with the usage guidelines. In addition, most of the treatments complied with the regulations laid down by related health insurance programmes. The other 122 cases (35.5%) failed to meet any of the indications of the usage guidelines. Only 102 patients (29.7%) had their baseline lipid profiles examined and 117 patients (34%) had their baseline liver function tested. Over all, very few cases had lipid profiles and liver function tests every 3 months while taking antihyperlipidaemic agents. Patients who had been prescribed antihyperlipidaemic agents for more than 1 year were evaluated to assess the effectiveness of their pharmacological therapy. The prescribed doses were found to be lower than recommended in the general literature except for patients who received lovastatin and pravastatin. CONCLUSIONS: There are many treatment guidelines for hypercholesterolaemia in north America and Europe. This study revealed that a large proportion of antihyperlipidaemic agents used in our patient population did not comply with these general recommendations. Although the reasons for not complying with usage guidelines need to be further investigated, our study findings may well serve as the basis for further quality management and pharmacoeconomic analysis.

Adolescent↗

Epidemiology of pemphigus in Sofia, Bulgaria. A 16-year retrospective study (1980-1995).

BACKGROUND: Pemphigus is a disease showing an uneven geographical distribution. In Bulgaria pemphigus has always represented a substantial part of diagnosed bullous diseases, but previous epidemiological data are incomplete. Our purpose was to evaluate retrospectively the incidence and prevalence of pemphigus in the district of Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria; population 1 200 000) for a sixteen-year period. METHODS: The files of all the newly registered patients with pemphigus in the City Hospital of Dermatology in Sofia during the period Jan 1 1980 to Dec 31 1995, were collected and analysed with regard to personal statistics, ethnic origin, profession, history of the disease including age and season of onset, symptoms, clinical diagnosis, severity, laboratory findings, associated illnesses, therapy, and cure rate. Special attention was paid to smoking, alcohol abuse, and the presence of triggering factors such as emotional stress, drug intake, underlying diseases, neoplasias, or others. RESULTS: During the 16-year period studied, 74 newly diagnosed cases of pemphigus occurred in the district of Sofia, giving a prevalence of 0.38 per 100 000 inhabitants and a mean incidence of 0.47/100 000/year for the overall population and 0.51/100 000/year for the population aged above 20 years. The most common clinical variant is pemphigus vulgaris, frequently occurring in the fifth-sixth decades. The vast majority of the patients are workers or professionals. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present retrospective study reveal a relatively high prevalence and incidence of pemphigus in Bulgaria, compared to that encountered in other countries. Our data is similar to that reported from Greece. Whether the Balkan Peninsula represents a focus of population groups with high susceptibility to pemphigus is a problem which could be highlighted by further epidemiological studies in this geographic area.

Adult↗

Clinical pathway management of total knee arthroplasty: a retrospective comparative study.

BACKGROUND: Clinical pathways facilitate the management of defined patient groups using interdisciplinary plans of care. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a clinical pathway in improving a range of selected outcome measures in patients who have undergone total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: The present study was conducted at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide. Using a retrospective comparative study design, 119 TKA patients who were managed on a clinical pathway from July 1997 to January 1998 (group 2) were compared with a retrospective group of 58 patients who underwent the same procedure from July 1996 to January 1997 (group 1) prior to the pathway's implementation. The following outcomes were measured: length of hospital stay; postoperative complications; readmissions and emergency service visits within 6 months of discharge; day of transfer to the convalescent unit; convalescent unit utilization and admission and discharge times. RESULTS: There was a significant reduction in the median length of stay in group 2 patients (9 vs 7 days; P < 0.0001). In addition there was a 66% increase in the proportion of patients in group 2 who were admitted on the day of surgery (P < 0.0001) and a 19.6% increase in the number of patients discharged within 8 postoperative days (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences between the groups with respect to the occurrence of postoperative complications. Although there was a trend toward a reduction in emergency service utilization and readmissions within 6 months of discharge for patients managed on the pathway, this was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: The development and implementation of a TKA clinical pathway resulted in a significant reduction in length of stay and improved streamlining of admission, discharge and transfer processes without adversely affecting patient outcomes.

Aged↗

Mood stabilizers in hospitalized children with bipolar disorder: a retrospective review.

A paucity of naturalistic data supported a rationale for the present retrospective review of clinical changes during hospitalization in 44 bipolar pre-adolescents, treated with monotherapy lithium, carbamazepine (CBZ) or divalproex sodium (DVP). Daily staff progress notes and discharge summaries on each patient were read by four trained clinicians blind to treatment group, and rated according to the Clinical Global Impression Improvement (CGI-I) scale. Consensus rating was measured by kappa reliability. Data were analyzed using a general linear model (sas mixed) analysis of variance (anova) with repeated measures. The medication groups did not differ in length of hospitalization, overall severity of illness at the time of admission, or comorbidity. Prior treatment was considered as a covariate. Each group approached serum therapeutic levels at day 7 of the medication period. The estimated mean CGI-I scores for CBZ were systematically higher (i.e. worse) than those for lithium and DVP, which overlapped and crossed over time. The difference became increasingly apparent and was statistically significant by week 2 (P = 0.036). The present study was limited in that the sample sizes, particularly in the case of CBZ, were small, commensurate with the low prevalence of the disorder. Lack of structured interviews, as an independent assessment of diagnoses was an intrinsic limitation of the study. Although constrained by its retrospective nature, our findings suggest that by week 2 of hospitalization both lithium and DVP may be more efficacious than CBZ in bipolar pre-adolescents. Any significant finding must be viewed as tentative and subject to confirmation in other studies.

Analysis of Variance↗

Retrospective review and long-term follow-up of radical cystectomy in a developing country.

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively review the clinical data from patients undergoing radical cystectomy for bladder cancer, and to analyse the complications and survival rates associated with this operation in a developing country. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study comprised 105 patients who underwent radical cystectomy from 1986 to 1993. Data were collected from retrospective reviews of hospital and physician's office records, and by contact with the patients. Metastatic status was evaluated before surgery and tumours staged using the Tumour-Nodes-Metastasis classification. The indication for surgery was histologically confirmed muscle invasion after transurethral resection biopsy, or endoscopically uncontrollable superficial disease. The data were analysed to assess the perioperative complications and long-term survival, with 5-year survival rates determined using Kaplan-Meier survival curves. RESULTS: The complication rate was 27.6%; most of the complications were managed conservatively with good results and re-operation was required in only two patients. There were two deaths (1.9%) at 15-45 days after surgery, but none during surgery. Patients were divided into node-negative and node-positive groups for analysis and 5-year survival rates determined; for node-negative organ-confined disease (< or =pT3A) the survival was 68% and for nonorgan-confined disease (> or =pT3B) 25%. The 5-year survival rate in the presence of nodal metastases was 13% for N1 and none for N2 disease. Six patients developed urethral recurrence, detected on follow-up urethral-wash cytology. Five of these patients underwent urethrectomy, and four of the six survived for 5 years. Pelvic recurrence occurred in five patients (4.7%), none of whom survived for 5 years. CONCLUSION: Radical cystectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection remains the mainstay of treatment in muscle-invasive bladder cancer. This is a relatively safe procedure with minimal morbidity and mortality; 68% of the present patients with organ-confined disease survived 5 years and 12 patients were alive at 10 years, indicating the effectiveness of this operation in selected cases. However, < 29% of patients with nonorgan-confined and nodal metastatic disease survived 5 years, thereby implying the need for more effective adjuvant therapy in these patients. Radical cystectomy is a viable option in developing countries, with 5-year survival rates comparable with most large published series.

Adult↗

A retrospective analysis of complications in the treatment of nevus of Ota with the Q-switched alexandrite and Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers.

BACKGROUND: Studies on the use of Q-switched alexandrite (QS alex) and QS Nd:YAG lasers in the treatment of nevus of Ota were limited to case reports and small series. There was no study that looked at the complication rate of these systems. OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively study the complication rate of nevus of Ota patients that were treated with QS alex laser, QS Nd:YAG laser, or a combination of both. METHODS: The study was performed in a teaching hospital and a private hospital, where 513 patients with nevus of Ota had been treated since 1993. The 171 patients with 211 treatment sites were evaluated retrospectively following treatment with QS alex laser only (n = 58), QS Nd:YAG laser (n = 105) only, or a combination of both systems (n = 48). Patients were called back to be interviewed and examined by two independent clinicians to look for evidence of complications. RESULTS: Of the treatment sites, 15. 3% had hypopigmentation, 2.9% had hyperpigmentation, and texture changes and scarring were seen in 2.9% and 1.9%, respectively. The combined treatment group was associated with a significantly higher risk of complications. Thirteen patients had recurrence of their nevus after complete or near-complete clearance with laser treatment. CONCLUSION: Hypopigmentation is common after the use of QS laser for lightening of nevus of Ota. This particularly applies when alternate treatment with QS alex and QS Nd:YAG is used. Recurrence is an important issue and must be taken into consideration, especially when children are treated.

Adolescent↗

Retrospective study of management of uterine sarcomas at Oxford 1990-1998: role of adjuvant treatment.

We report a retrospective study of 47 consecutive patients with uterine sarcoma treated at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford between 1990-1998. The mainstay of treatment was surgery with adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy reserved for selected patients with early stage disease. Overall 1 and 2 year survival was 49% and 30% respectively compared with 73% and 55% in the group who received adjuvant chemotherapy/radiotherapy. Median survival was 11 months for the group as a whole compared to 32.9 months in the adjuvant therapy group. This is a retrospective review with small numbers and considerable selection bias, however, given the poor survival of patients with this disease, adjuvant treatment should be considered in future trials of patients with uterine sarcoma.

Adult↗