Carcinosarcomas - A retrospective analysis of 21 patients

C. Villena-Heinsen, Dagmar Diesing*, D. Fischer, G. Griesinger, N. Maass, K. Diedrich, M. Friedrich

*Corresponding author for this work
16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Carcinosarcomas (CS) are mixed epithelial and stromal tumours with both components being malignant. Twenty-one patients with carcinosarcomas who were treated at the University of Saarland, Germany, are presented. Patients and Methods: The hospital records of all patients were reviewed. Results: The mean age range for homologue CS (homCS) was 60.7 years and for heterologue CS (hetCS) 68.4 years. Post-menopausal bleeding and abdominal pain were the main symptoms. Treatment modalities included surgery, adjuvant radiation therapy and various chemotherapy regimens. The median follow-up time was 17.6 months (homCS) and 31.1 months (hetCS). The 1-year survival rate was 55.6% (hetCS 58.3%) and the 5-year survival rate was 11.1% (hetCS 8.3%). Conclusion: Carcinosarcoma is a uterine sarcoma with a poor prognosis. Treatment includes surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy, whereas radiotherapy does not necessarily lead to a benefit. Treatment with trastuzumab might be a new approach in the therapy of HER-2/neu-positive CS.

Original languageEnglish
JournalAnticancer Research
Volume26
Issue number6 C
Pages (from-to)4817-4823
Number of pages7
ISSN0250-7005
Publication statusPublished - 11.2006

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