Comparison of the efficacy between paclitaxel/carboplatin and doxorubicin/cisplatin for concurrent chemoradiation in intermediate- or high-risk endometrioid endometrial cancer: a single institution experience.

AIM

We sought to compare survival and toxicity between paclitaxel/carboplatin (TC) and doxorubicin/cisplatin (AP) for concurrent chemoradiation (CCR) in intermediate- or high-risk endometrioid endometrial cancer.

METHODS

The clinical data of 40 patients with intermediate- (FIGO stage IC-IIB, n = 12) or high-risk endometrioid endometrial cancer (FIGO stage IIIA-IVA, n = 28) were reviewed retrospectively between March 2000 and December 2007, who were treated with TC (n = 23, group 1) or AP (n = 17, group 2) for CCR after surgery.

RESULTS

Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were not different between groups 1 and 2 (median PFS and OS; 35 vs 24 and 76 vs 39 months, respectively, P > 0.05). However, >or=6 cycles of chemotherapy improved PFS compared with 3-5 cycles of chemotherapy (51 vs 21 months, P = 0.04), suggesting that >or=6 cycles of chemotherapy was an independent prognostic factor improving PFS (adjusted HR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.91; P = 0.04). Grade 3 or 4 hematological and non-hematological, especially, gastrointestinal, toxicities related with chemotherapy during CCR were more common in group 2 than in group 1, whereas there was no difference in grade 3 or 4 late complication by CCR between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that TC may have comparable efficacy to AP for CCR with lesser toxicity, and >or=6 cycles of chemotherapy may be more beneficial than 3-5 cycles of chemotherapy in intermediate- or high-risk endometrioid endometrial cancer. However, large-scale randomized controlled trials are needed to support these results.