Young age as a prognostic factor in cervical cancer: results of a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE

Our goal was to use population-based data to determine the difference in 5-year survival in women diagnosed with cervical cancer between those aged 18-34 years and those aged 40-60 years.

STUDY DESIGN

The SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) public-use database, 1973-1994, was used for this investigation. Only subjects with cervical carcinoma diagnosed between 1988 and 1990 were included. Subjects were stratified on age at diagnosis (<35 years or 40-60 years), clinical stage, histologic type, race-ethnicity, and grade.

RESULTS

Two thousand cases of invasive cervical cancer were identified. The younger subgroup of patients was diagnosed with earlier-stage disease more frequently than the older group (P =.0001). When adjustments were made for non-cervical cancer causes of death, there was no difference in 5-year survival between the 2 cohorts. African American women had a poorer 5-year survival (P =.02)

CONCLUSION

There was no overall difference in survival between the 2 cohorts when appropriate adjustments were made for cause of death and for stage, histologic type, and grade of disease.