Stage IVB endometrial cancer: clinical course and survival of patients with single and multiple metastases

Metastatic endometrial cancer (EC) at initial presentation is a rare disease. The present aim was to evaluate prognostic factors and overall survival in patients diagnosed with metastatic EC.

Using data from the Geneva Cancer Registry, the authors included all patients diagnosed with Stage IVB EC from 1980-2007. Estimates of survival were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test.

A total of 38 patients were identified. The most frequent metastases were peritoneal or pleural carcinomatosis (66%, n=25) and hematogenous metastases (53%, n=20). Five-year survival rate was 5.7% (95% confidence interval: 0.0-13.3), and median survival was 7.6 months. Survival of patients with a single metastasis at the time of diagnosis was longer than for patients with multiple metastases (16 versus two months, respectively; p < 0.00 1).

Metastatic EC is rare disease with very poor prognosis particularly for patients with multiple site metastases.