Sequencing of Adjuvant Chemoradiation for Advanced Stage Endometrial Cancer: Outcomes and Toxicity Profiles

Radiation is frequently added to chemotherapy for adjuvant treatment of advanced stage endometrial cancer. Multiple adjuvant therapy sequencing options exist, and little data is available to compare these. We compared outcomes and toxicities after "sandwich" chemoradiation (chemotherapy, then radiation, then chemotherapy) and nonsandwich sequences (chemotherapy then radiation, radiation then chemotherapy, or concurrent chemoradiation).

We recorded baseline characteristics, adjuvant treatment details, clinical outcomes, and toxicities for stage III to IVA patients who underwent surgical staging followed by both adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy at our institution. Effects of adjuvant treatment order (sandwich or nonsandwich) on these outcomes were analyzed. Toxicities were graded according to CTCAE v4.0.

We identified 107 patients with a median follow-up of 3.2 years. Five-year local, regional, and distant recurrence were 7%, 15%, and 33%; disease-free and overall survival were 61% and 68%, respectively. Outcomes did not differ by sequence group. The overall rate of acute toxicity did not differ by sequence group. The overall rate of chronic toxicity was significantly lower for sandwich patients (P<0.001), as were overall rates of chronic genitourinary (P=0.048) and gynecologic (P<0.001) toxicities. There were no grade 4 or 5 acute or chronic toxicities.

Advanced stage endometrial cancer is an aggressive disease and adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy are indicated. Clinical outcomes were similar amongst the different sequences; however, sandwich therapy led to less chronic toxicity, offering an opportunity for improved quality of life in survivorship.