Clinicopathological features and survival in young Taiwanese women with endometrial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to compare the clinicopathological features and survival of young women with endometrial cancer (aged <50 years) with those of older women with endometrial cancer (aged ≥50 years).

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with histologically confirmed endometrial cancer treated at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital from 2001 to 2010.

RESULTS

One hundred forty-six patients (28.5%) were aged younger than 50 years at diagnosis. The median follow-up was 36.5 months (range, 0.9-121.7 months). Low body mass index (P < 0.001), nulliparity (P < 0.001), less medical illness (P < 0.001), synchronous primary ovarian cancer (P = 0.001), endometrioid type (P = 0.005), low tumor grade (P < 0.001), no para-aortic lymph node involvement (P < 0.047), less myometrial invasion (P < 0.001), and no vascular space invasion (P = 0.001) were common among the younger women compared with the older women. There were significant differences in the disease-free survival (P = 0.006) and overall survival (P = 0.004) between the 2 groups. In the multivariate Cox model, advanced stage had an effect on both disease-free survival (P = 0.004) and overall survival (P = 0.050).

CONCLUSIONS

Nulliparity, body mass index less than or equal to 23 kg/m, endometrioid type, low-grade tumor, synchronous primary ovarian cancer, and favorable survival were common among the younger women.