The role of vaginal brachytherapy in stage I endometrial serous cancer: a systematic review
Valentina Lancellotta, Francesca De Felice, Lisa Vicenzi, A Antonacci, Valentina Cerboneschi, Sara Costantini, Daniela di Cristino, Luca Tagliaferri, A. Cerrotta, Andrea Vavassori, Sergio Gribaudo, Alessandro Colombo, Francesco De Luca, Raffaele Barbara, Monica Mangoni, Francesco Marampon, Daniela Musio, Filippo Bellati, F Torcia, Vincenzo Tombolini, Mattia Osti Falchetto, Vitaliana De Sanctis
Abstract
PURPOSE: Serous adenocarcinoma (uterine serous carcinoma - USC) is a rare and aggressive histologic subtype of endometrial cancer, with a high-rate of recurrence and poor prognosis. The adjuvant treatment for stage I patients is unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of stage I USC treated exclusively with chemotherapy plus vaginal brachytherapy (VBT). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A systematic research using PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane library was conducted to identify full articles evaluating the efficacy of VBT in patients with stage I USC. A search in ClinicalTrials.gov was performed in order to detect ongoing or recently completed trials, and in PROSPERO for searching ongoing or recently completed systematic reviews. RESULTS: All studies were retrospective and 364 of evaluated patients were found. The average local control was 97.5% (range, 91-100%), the disease free-survival was 88% (range, 82-94%), the overall survival was 93% (range, 72-100%), the specific cancer survival was 89.4% (range, 84.8-94%), and the G3-G4 toxicity was 0-8%. CONCLUSIONS: These data support the concept that in adequately selected patients, VBT alone may be a suitable radiotherapy technique in women with stage I USC who underwent surgical staging and received adjuvant chemotherapy.