Marital Status and Survival of Patients with Chondrosarcoma: A Population-Based Analysis

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that differences in marital status contribute to different prognoses for certain cancers, but the relationship between marital status and the prognosis of chondrosarcoma has not been reported previously. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, we selected 4502 eligible cases through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database from 1977 to 2014 to analyze the impact of marital status on chondrosarcoma cancer-specific survival (CSS) by Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression model. RESULTS The sex, age, histotype, pathological grade, tumor location, tumor size, SEER stage, socioeconomic status, marital status, and treatment were identified as independent prognostic factors for chondrosarcoma CSS. Widowed patients presented the worst CSS compared with their married, divorced, and single counterparts (P<0.001). Subgroup analyses showed widowed patients also had a significantly higher risk of cancer-specific mortality compared with married patients in localized stage (HR: 1.971, 95% CI: 1.298-2.994, P=0.001), regional stage (HR: 1.535, 95% CI: 1.094-2.154, P=0.013), low pathological grade (HR: 1.866, 95% CI: 1.332-2.613, P<0.001), and high pathological grade (HR: 1.662, 95% CI: 1.139-2.426, P=0.008). CONCLUSIONS Marital status was first identified as an independent prognostic factor for chondrosarcoma CSS, and widowhood was always associated with a high risk of cancer-specific mortality. It is necessary to provide timely psychological treatment for widowed patients in clinical practice, which can improve the survival of chondrosarcoma patients.